Vixen of the Hidden Leaves
by Fluffy-Akumaru
Summary: Sakura returns to the village with her daughter Sarada with a condition that will change her life forever. Naruto, dealing with his own failing relationship with Hinata, supported her the best way he could.How will their lives go from here? OOC WARNING, NaruSaku! If you don't like, DON'T READ! DOES NOT COMPLETELY FOLLOW CANON
1. Chapter 1: Before the Disaster

Naruto was reading a newspaper while his son, Boruto Uzumaki, was trying to get into a game of wrestling with him. His girlfriend, Hinata Hyuga, was sewing in their kitchen

"Dad, I'm gonna take you down!" yelled Boruto, who had been continually throwing pillows at his father.

"We'll see about that!" And with that, Naruto disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of smoke. "No fair! You used a ninja trick. Oh well, two can play at that game!" Boruto made two shadow clones and sent them to look for his dad around the house.

"You guys play nice!" Hinata called from the kitchen. Naruto ran back into the room and crashed on the sofa. Right when Boruto was going to attack, an ANBU appeared in the middle of their living room. "Sorry to interrupt, dickless, but Lady Tsunade is demanding your presence. Naruto sweat dropped, "You can at least still call me Naruto, Sai. Anyways, I will be there immediately."

Before Boruto could try to stop his father, they disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Hinata and Boruto left in the house. "He always leaves us behind! I'm starting to think that all his 'love and affection' is fake!" Boruto yelled and stomped off to his room. Hinata just stood there shocked. She wanted to tell Boruto that what he thought wasn't true, but she began thinking the same as well. He isn't the same as he used to be.

~~~X~~~

"Thanks, Sai, for getting me out of there, I don't know how much longer I could keep up the act." Naruto said, as they relaxed by a tree near team 7's training grounds. It was getting hard for Naruto to act like the father he was supposed to be, ever since he heard that Hinata was pregnant with his child, he started acting… differently. He has been finding excuses to go out on missions, and finding his other friends' activities interesting, like walking Akumaru with Kiba, playing chess with Shikamaru, or even eating BBQ pork skewers with Choji. He hadn't meant to get Hinata pregnant. He was sure to use protection every time they were doing something like that. He remembers Hinata asking him if they could have a child, but Naruto would turn her down every time saying that he wasn't ready.

"You're welcome, but the hokage does wants to see you. The 'immediately' part was fake though, she said when you can." Sai responded. Spending time with Yamato and Kakashi was worth it. He was learning to understand emotions better, though he could still be offensive sometimes. "I understand that you think that Boruto was a mistake, but you should at least try to make him 'not' hate you."

"I don't think that Boruto was a mistake… ugh, it's just that, I wasn't planning on having a child so soon. And Hinata's father, Hiashi, is pushing me to marry her! Ugh! He makes me so sick sometimes!" Naruto frustratedly replied to Sai. Sai just simply nodded his head. He'd never been in a situation like this before, but he can understand Naruto's frustration. "Well, he doesn't get to make that decision for you, doesn't he? If you truly love Hinata in that way, you'll marry her when you are ready. It's bad enough you two had a one- sided planned child, with that one side being on Hinata's behalf."

Naruto was nearly shocked at Sai's words. "I have never heard anything come out of your mouth that was so… so- "

"Genuine?" Sai chuckled, "You know, I do have more emotional experience than Kakashi's books you know." Naruto laughed, "Yeah, you're right. Let's get going to obaa- chan and see what she wants." And with that, they both started a race to the tower, jumping across the rooftops towards the Hokage.

~~X~~

Hinata sat at home, silently waiting for Naruto to return. "When is dad coming home? He needs a lesson on the definition of 'family time' apparently." Boruto complained. "He's a ninja," Hinata started, "He's going to be busy for a while and apparently, every day." Hinata deadpanned. She started to wish that she hasn't given up on her ninja status, just so that she could be by his side at home and on the field.

Hinata had to do some sacrificing to be with Naruto. Her father, Hiashi, didn't really want Hinata marrying Naruto, especially since he was one of the main people who had heard the rumors about Naruto and Sakura being a couple. She wanted to settle down and start a family with him. She became a house… girlfriend? She wanted to be Naruto's wife so bad. She smirked as she remembered when Naruto told her that she'd make a great wife. But no, it was always Sakura that he was after. She sometimes wondered if that's who he was seeing every time he leaves the house to escape family bonding time. She knew that that he'd been escaping them for sure; she wasn't stupid. Every time she and Boruto wants to hang out and just be a family, he always leaves saying that "I have a mission, or I'm kind of busy right now." She hated that. It was her dream to be by Naruto's side and have him happy with her. It was a selfish dream, but now that it 'was' making progress, she decided to do whatever it takes to make Naruto love his family again.

"He should be back soon." Hinata said. Boruto just rolled his eyes and went out the door. "Where are you going, Boruto!" Hinata shouted. "I'm going to ask Tsunade for a mission, I'm bored and tired of waiting on dad to come home!" And with that, Boruto slammed the door shut and it was now just Hinata in the house. Yep, that was the way that it was nowadays. Naruto found excuses to leave the house and Boruto would get frustrated and leave too. Hinata would be left alone in the house with no one to talk to. Ever since she got with Naruto, she hasn't really been hanging out with her friends that much. She'd suggest going to visit them, but with TenTen owning a weapons shop and being an ANBU, Ino owning her family's flower shop and being and ANBU, and Temari overseeing a team of genin, she was out of luck. Then there was Sakura. "Sakura..." Hinata quietly said to herself. She had been the one who put her and Naruto together in the first place. Then something hit her. Her Naruto- kun might not have been in love with her in the first place. He was in love with that pink- haired kunoichi. "What if Naruto is with me because he'd do anything and everything for Sakura? What if she told him to get with me and he did it because she asked him to?"

Hinata shook those thoughts out of her head. After a few more minutes of thinking, she broke down into an episode of crying upon the realization:

Naruto would never love her, or any woman at that, like he did or does Sakura.


	2. Chapter 2: Sakura Returns

Naruto and Sai made it to the Hokage office in time enough to watch Tsunade chug down a rather large glass of sake.

This can't be good.

"Naruto..." Tsunade started, "I suppose you're wondering why I summoned you here today."

"Is it a mission?"

"No, in fact, this new info may put you on hold from missions for a while."

Naruto was shocked. He was being put on hold from missions. He didn't do anything wrong, right?

"I have summoned you here because I wanted to select you as the successor of my chair." Now Naruto was confused.

"You want me to sit in your chair when you get up? But why?" Tsunade sweat dropped.

"I'm starting to regret choosing you to be the 6th hokage-"  
"THE SIXTH HOKAGE!" There was that energy. She knew he'd literally run around all 5 nations screaming from every rooftop saying that 'I'm hokage suckers.' Or something along those lines.

"Are you sure? Obaa- chan?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Of course, there will be lots of studying to get done. So, we should start the training around next week, got that?"

"Yes Obaa- chan, thank you!" Naruto said before practically dragging poor Sai out the door.

"B- Bye La-Lay- LADY TSUNADE!" Sai shouted.

Tsunade sighed heavily and looked towards her best friend and first apprentice. "Shizune! We need more Sake!"

~~X~~

"I can't believe it! Sai, did you hear what Tsunade said! I'M GONNA BE THE NEXT FRIKEN HOKAGE!"

Sai cringed, "Yes, yes, count on a dickless freak like you to ruin someone's sense of hearing."

*A loud scream was heard in the distance once Naruto and Sai left the Ramen shop. *

Naruto and Sai turned to each other and nodded their heads. They both began to jump rooftops to the location.

~~~X~~~

"Why mom?! Why did you let dad do such a thing?!" Sarada yelled at her mother. "I told you Sarada! I tried so very hard to stop him; HE WOULDN'T LISTEN!" Came the reply of the assumed mother of the child.

"Well, you obviously didn't try hard enough!" Sarada shouted back at her mother. That's when Naruto showed up with Sai by his side.

"Hey, hey, what's going on here?" Naruto asked. He proceeded towards the two until the pink haired woman turned around to see who was interrupting their rather 'loud' private moment. Naruto froze on the spot, which happened to be just 2ft away from the young kunoichi.

"Sa-Sakura- chan?" Naruto stuttered. He hadn't seen her since he saw her off 12 years ago when Sasuke left the village on one of his 'journey trips'. She'd been pregnant and Naruto was begging her not to go on such condition. She'd insisted and Sasuke had promised to keep her protected from any danger they might run into. He'd receive a letter from Sakura a few months after saying that Sasuke had to deliver the baby and that was EXTREMELY funny to picture. But that wasn't why his heart exploded when he sees her this first time in so long. She had... matured. A LOT! Her hair had grown back down to her mid- back, her hips had grown wider, and... wait was this still Sakura? The Sakura- chan he knew was known for her petite breasts. However, her pair had grown to at least a D- cup size. Not as large as Hinata's 'used' to be. After Hinata gave birth to Boruto, it seemed like all her curves and stuff just got... flat.

"HEY CREEP, STOP STARING AT MY MOM!" Sarada yelled at Naruto. Sai smirked as he caught Naruto drawling a little bit out the corners of her mouth. "Na- Naruto..." Sakura said unusually shyly. "What are- are you doing he- here?"

"I heard a scream and I followed it here," Naruto explained, wiping the drawl from of his face with the handkerchief he had in his pocket. "Oh, is this the little Sarada I've been hearing about, eh?" Sarada watched as the tall blond walked towards her. HE WAS HOT! "Umm... um, what do you mean by that?" she stuttered out as Naruto knelt to get face to face with her. A deep blush crossed her face as Naruto reached his arms around her and gave her a rather tight hug. "Your mother wrote letters to me about you. You see, your mother and I are best friends, and I haven't seen her in a while.

"Oh, well can you talk some sense into her then? She just let Sasuke walk out on our lives! He sent a letter to my mom saying that he wanted to break up with her because apparently, he tried having another child with her and it didn't work."

To say that Naruto was shocked was an understatement. In fact, he was pissed. "He did what?" Naruto growled. He snapped his head around to look at an on- the- verge- of- tears- faced Sakura and Sai had magically disappeared somewhere, probably sensing that this was a sensitive topic going on. "Dammit, she's your teammate too, Sai." Naruto thought. "Say, mister, are you Naruto Uzumaki?" The raven-haired girl asked. "Yeah, I'm Naruto. You can call me Naruto by the way." He smiled at the little girl. "I know your father too. Sasuke Uchiha. Me, him, and your mom was on the same team when we were little."

"Really?" Sarada asked, her eyes gleaming up at Naruto. "Yes, it's true. But I need to have an adult conversation with your mother right now. Here." A shadow clown appeared next to him and he was smiling toothy. "Cut that out creep, you're going to scare her. Take her to my house. She can meet Boruto there and Hinata." And with that, the clone nodded, and squatted down, signaling Sarada to get on his back. Hesitantly, Sarada got on the clone's back and took one last look at her mother. She looked broken. She thought about what she could be going through right now. "I'm sorry mom, I didn't mean to make you sad." Sarada said. She had heard from her mother about how long it took her to win her father's heart. And now, just like he did before, he left her, again. A small feeling akin to hatred and anger filled Sarada's heart towards her father.

~~~X~~~

After the clone was gone with Sarada in tow, Naruto turned to Sakura. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. But now wasn't the time to drawl over her beauty. She looked depressed. Naruto walked over to his best friend and embraced her in a hug. She began to sob into Naruto's chest. He held her tighter when he felt her about to fall. Just when her knees completely gave out. He caught her and held her bridal style. He jumped the rooftops to avoid bringing attention to them and headed for the Hokage Monument. This is where he'd usually go for peace and quiet.

"Sakura- chan," Naruto started. As if reading his mind, Sakura put a finger up to his lips to shut him up. "No you baka, I don't need you going after him. He's made his decision and I respect that he's trying to rebuild his clan. We are still best friends though, that was clarified through the letters we sent to each other while I was on the way back." Sakura explained. Naruto gave her a look that said, 'you have got to be kidding me right now'. He sighed, "Sakura, you know that I'd only want the best for you. I'd feel completely guilty if I couldn't do anything to help you." Naruto caressed the side of her surprisingly soft face. "You are doing something for me…" Sakura started. "You are doing more for me than I'd ever expect from you. You are treating me with so much… so much… love. And I can never ask you for more. It'd be too much."

"Caring for you would not be too much Sakura. I love you too much to just not give you more than enough love- "

"You have Hinata and Boruto to give most of your love to-"

"Don't talk about them, not right now, please." Naruto really didn't need his 'family' brought into the conversation right now. In fact, he'd rather help Sakura out with her problem than go back home at this point.

Sakura understood and could comprehend Naruto like he was an open book. She knew when topics were getting to sensitive for him to handle at a moment. Part of her wanted to explore more of his personal life since she'd left the village, but she knew that it would be impossible with his ever persistent attitude. He'd put her before his own life. She could see that just talking about Hinata and Boruto was paining him. She could only pray to kami that he gets over his problems soon, as well as hers.

"Just tell me what I have to do to take your pain away. I know, you're probably going to get mad at me for even attempting to be so caring towards you, but, out of all people, you should know that I'm just like that, to you more than anyone, because you were one of my first precious people."

Sakura teared up. "I wish you'd have as much care for yourself than you do others, but I suppose I can't change that trait within you. I love you for it, though it also makes me very concerned about your own safety."

Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "You don't have to worry about my safety Sakura- chan. I've survived all these years being reckless, I think I have matured a bit to survive the life of adulthood." Sakura couldn't help but giggle at his remark. "You're still that same baka I left 12 years ago huh?" Naruto smirked, "Well you know me, I'll always be your 'precious baka'." Sakura blushed at his comment. Normally, she would've punched his lights out for saying something like that. Heck, she still would've if it hadn't been for her being depressed or him comforting her in such situation.

Just thinking about what Sasuke did to her brought her back down, worse than before because now that Naruto knew about it, she knew that he'd forever be trying to bring him back. "Another burden that I've put upon the man who loved me more than life itself again." Sakura thought.

"Sakura- chan, are you okay?" Naruto said.

There were those strong arms again. Holding her through the depths of her despair. "I'm alright, just tired from the trip I guess." Sakura responded. Then it was her turn to ask the same question to Naruto, who was now hurled over grunting in pain.

"Naruto?" she asked. There was a tingly feeling in her gut the moment she saw him in pain. "I'm okay, Sakura- chan. I guess that I just have a cramp. Here, let me walk you home." Naruto lied. He knew that type of pain by heart. It was a pain that he was too familiar with. It only appeared on one condition:

Kurama was trying to warn him about something.

~~X~~  
After doing a short meet and greet with Hinata and Boruto when they got home, Naruto walked Sakura and Sarada home. He watched as the raven- haired girl busted into their house, exploring her actual home since she'd never actually been in there before since she was born outside the village. During the time while she was outside of the village, she had been receiving training lessons from both Sasuke and Sakura. When she was halfway up the stairs, she turned towards her mom and Naruto who seemed to be in a conversation at the moment and yelled out, "Hey mom, aren't you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec!" Sakura yelled back. Sarada just nodded her head and continued her exploration of her new home.

"Sakura- chan?" Naruto said, looking deeply into those emerald green eyes that he missed oh so badly.

"Yes, Naruto- kun?" Sakura responded, shocked that she added the honorific to the end of his name, though Naruto didn't seem to notice.

"I'm always right here by your side, you know that right?" He asked her. "Of course, Naruto, just as long as you know that I will always be by your side too."

"Yes, good night, Sakura- chan." Naruto responded, giving her a kiss on the cheek that lasted longer than he intended.

Sakura gasped at the action. She tried not to turn into jelly by the pleasant warmth he brought to her cheeks when he did that. When he pulled away, he was completely red, redder than a tomato. "Sa- s-Saku- Sakura- chan. I-I'm so- sorry." The sweet gesture lasted for about 15 seconds. It was worth those few seconds of her life, so she decided to let him know that she wasn't going to kill him. Though weirdly, she didn't want to hit him for that, in fact she wanted to-. No, she couldn't do that.

"It's okay Naruto- kun." Sakura said. There was that kun again. She hugged and waved him good- bye. Watching him leave until he was out of sight. She sighed, closing the door and sliding her back down against it until her bottom hit the floor. She didn't know that Sarada was standing right in front of her with an amused smile on her face until she open her eyes. She gasped when she finally registered who it was. "Sa- Sarada! What are you doing here? I thought you were exploring the house."

"Yeah, you see, about that, I just so happened to finish up and come back just in time enough to witness an almost make out session between you and Naruto." Sarada teased.

"WHAT?!" Sakura shouted. Sarada giggled. It was obvious that there was an unspoken thing going on between the two. If she hadn't known better, she wouldn't have noticed that they probably had feelings for each other back when they were teens. And for situations like these, she was glad that Sakura was her mom, for she had inherited her mother's smart analytical thinking. "Yeah right mom don't try to act innocent, I SAW HIM KISS YOUR CHEEK!" Sarada laughed, barely unable to breath. "And besides, if he's the man you described him to be, I would easily accept him as a step- dad!" Sarada joked, before running off to hide somewhere in the house.

"Why you little! SHANAROOO!" Sakura yelled, chasing after her laughing daughter. Part of her actually fantasied more than a few times about her and Naruto being married. But the other part was worried that she was actually that easy to read that her own daughter saw through her feelings.

"I've really got to put my act back together before more people start getting the wrong idea." Sakura thought, as she continued to chase Sarada around the house.


	3. Chapter 3: The Conversation

Naruto came home that night with a terrible pain in his gut. He had to talk to Kurama when he got home. When he returned to his house, he was greeted by a quite angry Boruto and a Hinata that had a look on her face that said 'what the heck is going on'. Naruto sighed, "If the night goes on like this, there is no way that I will know what Kurama is trying to warn me about." Naruto thought as he took in a deep breath to prepare his explanation, though he knew that both Hinata and Boruto were fed up with his excuses.

"Are you just going to stand there looking dumb dad, or are you going to give us a lame excuse for not being here again today. And why was there a GIRL here today, brought by your shadow clone?"

"Listen Boruto and Hinata, Sakura had just got back in town and something happened with them. It is up to her if she wants you to know, but I am not telling either of you anything. I sent Sarada here with that clone because I needed to have a talk with Sakura. She's not doing so well and I was trying to help her."

"Oh…" was all Hinata can say. She knew something was up when Sarada first arrived.

*flashback*

When Sarada arrived with Naruto's clone. She was greeted with a blond haired boy with blue eyes and two whisker marks on each of his cheeks. "Who are you?" The boy asked.

"Sarada," the clone started, "This is my son, Boruto. Boruto, this is Sarada, Sakura's daughter. Inside, Sarada, you will find my girlfriend and his mother, Hinata. She's really nice, so I believe that you should get along with her. Boruto, play nice." And with that, the clone dispersed.

"So, I guess my real dad is talking with your mom, eh?" Boruto asked. He studied the girl. Her hair was combed to the side and she wore red glasses, but he could still see her black eyes through them. She was a slender girl and was wearing a red top with white shorts and black sandals. "Well, I guess it's time for you to meet my mom."

Sarada followed Boruto in the house. It was quite huge, and Boruto's mom was knitting on the couch in their living room. "Mom, dad's clone brought someone here." He called out as they entered the living room. Hinata seemed shocked at the visitor, since she wasn't expecting any no ways.

"Oh, and who are you?" Hinata smiled at the little girl. "My name is Hinata, Boruto's mom. And you are?"  
"I am Sarada Uchiha. My mom said that she knows you. My father did too. Are you Hinata Hyuga?"

"Yes, I am acquainted with your father and your mother, Sakura Haruno, she and I are friends." Hinata stated. "Say, have you run into Naruto on the way here?"

"Dad's clone said that the real dad was talking with Sakura." Boruto jumped in the conversation. Hinata just nodded her head. A dark side of her wished that she would go back to where ever she came from, but she knew how bad Naruto had missed his best friend and that they had plenty of catching up to do. Whatever it was, it seemed to be troubling Sarada because she didn't look so happy when she first saw the girl. If Naruto was here, He'd be able to talk her out of her problems, because Naruto was just that type of person.

"Well, while we wait for him to get here, do you guys want to here about some of the adventures that the rookie 9 went on when we were younger. Though Boruto heard enough stories, he doubted that Sarada has heard that much unless her mother told her.

"My mom has told me some stories," Sarada started, "They were about her squad, team 7, and how Naruto used to be annoying and ruthless. She said that she had to waste a lot of her chakara just to keep from killing him, though she used to knock him out a lot. She told me that after my dad, Sasuke, had left the village, her and Naruto had grown extremely close to one another and she had learned to deal with him in better ways than just punching his lights out all the time. Though some of the things she told me that he did were worth punching him about, and to be honest, I would've done the same. Like this one time, she told me that Naruto had stolen her bra." Sarada giggled at the last memory of her mother's stories. Sakura would always blush when Sarada asked about that moment. Sarada did this on purpose to watch her mother act uncomfortably about the topic and Sarada found it amusing.

Hinata smiled. "Yes, Sakura and Naruto didn't quite get along when they were younger because Sakura didn't have any patience for Naruto's carelessness." Hinata said, sparking Boruto's interest. "Well, dad said that you practically stalked on him for all your life, so can you tell us any juicy intel? Did Sakura and Naruto end up dating at some point?"

"Yeah," Sarada agreed, "Because he was acting weird around my mom today. He said that he hadn't seen her in a while and I could tell that he missed her terribly. Did they date?"

Hinata immediately grew uncomfortable. She was also a bit angry at the fact that Boruto never even asked her or Naruto how they got together, but now he wanted to know if Naruto and Sakura even dated. She sighed as she began telling them stories of how Naruto would ask Sakura on dates and how she only accepted a few of them.

*end flashback*

"We even learned that you and Sakura- chan used to date." Boruto teased. Though his mother told him that it never happened, he wanted to see if his father would tell him otherwise.

"WHAT!? WE NEVER DATED! I mean, sure, I used to crush on her, a lot, but I never… we never got together." Naruto was surprised at Boruto's statement. He was as red as Hinata used to get when he got to close to her when they were younger.

"Aw man, I thought that mom was only saying that you guys didn't hook up because she would get jealous. Oh well, I'm off to bed. Good Night mom, Night dad!" Boruto shouted as he ran up the stairs to his bedroom.

Both Hinata and Naruto watched their son go up the stairs in shock. Naruto was still blushing a bit at Boruto's assumption and he feared the way Hinata would react. "Listen Hinata," Naruto started, grabbing her attention, "You and Sakura- chan are friends right? You know how close I am to her and I can't tell you anything that she doesn't want you to know. If she doesn't tell you herself, then just be supportive. Okay?"

Hinata was still a bit miffed at her son's assumption. Did he not trust her to tell him the truth about those two? She heard Naruto saying something, but she was still a little heart broken that her son didn't trust her. Especially since that specific topic was sensitive to her." Okay." Hinata responded, though she wasn't even sure if she comprehended what he asked of her. "Good, now I am going to talk to Kurama, he's trying to warn me about something." Naruto said, leaving Hinata in the room to ponder her thoughts. Alone

~~X~~

Naruto laid in his bed and closed his eyes to prepare for his talk with Kurama.

Inside Kurama's Temple (or whatever it's called)

"It's about time you showed up!" Kurama said. He was obviously running out of patience with the boy taking so long to get here. "Though, I can't tell you anything too much right now, you need to be aware of something."

"What's going on fox?" Naruto asked. He was growing impatient with Boruto's prodding and Hinata's silent 'Why don't you stay home?' questions.

"You know that pain that you've been feeling where your seal was? I will only tell you this much. The pain will only happen around Sakura and soon, she will feel the pain too, except it's going to be a lot worse than yours."

"What do you mean? Is she going to be safe? What's going to happen to her?" Now Naruto was panicking.

"I can give you more information around next week. But for now, she will be fine for as long as you do as you were told." Kurama finished as he cut off the connection between him and Naruto to end the conversation.

Outside Kurama's Temple

Naruto woke up abruptly, sweating and panting for much needed air. Hinata had been trying to wake him up, but he wasn't paying any attention to her. "I- I nee- I need to protect Sakura-chan." Naruto managed to say aloud before falling into a deep slumber. Hinata teared up at his words. "That's Naruto alright, putting other's lives before his." Hinata thought, as she laid beside him.


	4. Chapter 4:The Vixen Show Her True Colors

Two weeks from the day Sakura had returned had been a living hell. The pain in his gut got worse and worse every day when he tried to get near Sakura. Hinata suggested that he don't see her so much, but Naruto wasn't having it. Though somehow, he was able to keep up with his hokage studying, thanks to Hinata helping him focus. A part of her didn't want to help her because she knew that if Naruto were to become the hokage, he would have excellent excuses for not being home. Her dream was to always be by Naruto's side and for him to love her as much as she loved him. She was now coming to terms with the fact that whatever her dreams were, they weren't going to come true. But if she can still help him, she won't try to complain, too much.

~~~X~~~

Hinata went out and about the day after Naruto's 'episode'. She wanted to do something with Boruto since he didn't have a mission today and he wasn't going to do anything else but brood over his father trying to become hokage, a higher standard which meant for both him and Hinata that Naruto wasn't going to be home more than often and he'd have a good excuse. He was going to be running a whole country for crying out loud!

It was about time Naruto got home from his training. They were to meet him at Ichiraku's for some lunch. On the way there, they ran into an unexpected woman that was standing in front of the Ramen Shop, apparently checking her watch for the time.

"Oh... hello Sakura- chan!" Hinata said as she approached the kunoichi. "Where is your daughter, Sarada?

Sakura looked up from her watch and noticed Hinata standing in front of her with a little boy that looked a lot like... Naruto? "Oh, hello Hinata- chan, Sarada is with Ino at the flower shop. Oh... My... Goodness! Is this the famous Boruto Uzumaki that I've been hearing about?" Boruto gave her a confused look. This was Sarada's mom? She looked... beautiful! He blushed when Sakura bent down to give him a better look. "You look just like your father." Sakura smiled.

"Even her smile is beautiful!" Boruto thought. When she bent over, he got a good glimpse of Sakura's breast. She was wearing a light pink V- neck tank- top with black short shorts. The shorts showed off her toned, feminine legs and the tank top showed off her strong, but feminine arms. She had on light make- up, that being a little mascara and some reddish colored lip gloss."She has to be a ninja, and no wonder my dad used to get the googly eyes when he saw her. I wouldn't be surprised if he still does.

Hinata caught Boruto drawling at Sakura's body. Oh no, this was not going to cut. "Boruto! It is rude to stare at a woman that way!" Hinata scowled. Boruto was shaken out of his fantasies and he quickly turned extremely red, wiping the drawl from his face. Sakura just laughed, "Like father like son, eh?" Sakura laughed out loud. "What do you mean by that?" Boruto asked. He really didn't want to be rude to such pure beauty, but he didn't really like being compared to his father, who can't even spend quality family time. "Your dad used to look at me the same way. In fact, when I first got back here two weeks ago, he gave me that exact same look." Sakura laughed out. Boruto blushed a bit, picturing his dad with this woman. He shook the image off his mind as he saw his mother's displeased face.

"Huh..., well, we were just dropping by to meet Naruto here. What brings you here, though? I thought you didn't like Ichiraku's Ramen." Hinata deadpanned. Ever since she started dating Naruto, Hinata had become a bit more confident with showing her emotions and feelings about things. However, her slight anger and frustration towards the pink- haired woman's presence faze Sakura. But knowing her, ever since she started her medical training with Tsunade, she became a direct replicant of the soon- to- be- retired hokage. "Well, I didn't really like Ichiraku's and Naruto would always force me to go on dates with him here. I came on a few occasions, but the food was too salty. It wasn't good for him to eat as much as he did, so I came here with him sometimes to make sure he didn't overdo himself. But after being gone from the village for 12 years, I kind of got homesick and really started to miss the idiot desperately. So, I tried eating the ramen in the other villages we ran across on our journey, but it wasn't and will never be Ichiraku's and it didn't feel right eating ramen without him. He was the one who introduced me to it after all. I guess I just kind of grew a taste for it?" Sakura said sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head and blushed, remembering the times when Naruto and she would come here almost every other weekend just to spend some time together as friends when they were teens. She wasn't lying though; she did miss the number one hyper active knuckle headed ninja.

"AWWW! I am so touched Sakura- chan. I always knew you'd miss me." A voice said from behind Sakura. She jumped out of fear and delivered a large blow that blew him all the way back to the hokage tower, which happened to be all the way on the other side of the village since Ichiraku moved his shop closer to the village gates because a lot of tourist were starting to come to him a lot for his ramen. "OH MY GOD! NARUTO!" Sakura yelled after realizing who it was. Naruto soon caught back up with them holding his gut. Sakura gritted her teeth and balled her hands up into tight balls until her knuckles turned white. Why did his idiotic side have to come out so soon? She missed it, but not this much. She could've went a few more days without having Naruto acting like a complete dufus, but what can you possibly expect? "You idiot? Why would you come up from behind like that, huh? I could've killed you!" Sakura yelled.

She was right though. Never sneak up on a ninja, especially a hot tempered one like herself. Boruto, scared out of his wits, ran behind his mother and hid. Hinata knew to back up when Sakura got like this. Some villagers stopped and watched for a few seconds before going on about their day. "Just like old times." Boruto heard one villager said. Now he was curious, but now wasn't the time for questions. He's just shocked that the beautiful woman that was just acting all nice and innocent had some incredible monstrous strength.

"I- I'm so sorry Sakura- chan. I shouldn't have scared you like that. But, good reflexes though." Naruto managed to give her a thumbs up with the arm that wasn't holding his stomach. Heavily sighing, Sakura practically dragged Naruto into the ramen shop by his ear. Hinata and Boruto just silently followed, both scared to get too close to Tsunade's apprentice. Ichiraku was standing behind the bar, looking shocked to see the two tumbling into his shop on such short notice. "Sakura- chan? You've returned! I am so happy to see you! Are you and Naruto on another date?" Ichiraku asked. The question shocked all four of them. Ichiraku knew about Naruto's relationship with Hinata and Boruto. He also knew how Naruto was telling him about how him and Hinata weren't quite on good terms. So, he decided to tease him about it. Smirking at the scowl on Hinata's face and the blush appearing on both Naruto and Sakura's faces.

"No, I invited her here with Hinata and Boruto because I just... Ow... miss her. SAKURA- CHAN! THAT HURTS DAMMIT!" Ichiraku and Sakura both giggled. "Oh shut up being a big baby. Your about to become Hokage and you've defeated the most extremely powerful enemies ever known to Konoha's bingo book, and here you are cowering away from me like I'm the great god oh mighty himself." Sakura teased. Naruto pouted, "Sometimes I wonder if you're him for real." he mumbled. "EH? WHAT WAS THAT NARUTO UZUMAKI!?" Sakura growled. She had been pumping chakra into where she had previously hit him. Pissing her off was not the best thing to do, especially since she already had chakra in her hand to enhance her punches. Ichiraku gave a good-hearted laugh at the two, "Just like old times, eh? Now come on in, Hinata and Boruto, you guys have a seat too. Lunch is on the house today for these two cat birds right here!" Ichiraku joked.

"She's scary mom." Boruto said to his mother. He sat in between her and his dad, while Hinata was on the far end. Sakura sat to the left of Naruto. "Yeah, she can get really abusive sometimes towards Naruto, but the truth is, she really cares about him." Hinata replied, watching Naruto get scowled at by Sakura for stuffing his face with so much food at one time. She was now sure that she was jealous of Sakura. She had to get Naruto's attention back immediately, before he started to want Sakura instead of her.

*after lunch, Hinata asks Sakura about Sasuke while they were walking back down the roads towards their homes*

Sakura stopped in her steps. She looked down; her hair was covering her face so Hinata couldn't see her facial expression. Naruto gave a small glare towards Hinata before grunting in agonizing pain again. Boruto looked towards his father and ran towards him. "Dad! Are you okay?" He asked panicking a bit. "Yeah... Hinata, that's a sensitive sub..." Naruto stopped his warning when he saw the look on Hinata's face. She looked terrified. He followed her eyes to see what she was looking at. "How," she started, "How is this even possible?" Hinata asked. Naruto abruptly stood up, ignoring the pain in his gut.

"Naruto warn the hokage immediately. Get Killer Bee NOW!" Kurama yelled. Naruto made a shadow clone and sent him towards the tower to get Tsunade. He ran towards Sakura, who now had a hot pink chakra cloak surrounding her form. "Oh... My... God! Sakura- chan!" Naruto yelled as he kneeled and wrapped his arms around her. She was grunting in pain and she had features forming on her face that only Naruto was known to have. She had three whisker marks forming on each of her cheeks and fangs were coming from her teeth. When she opened her eyes, Naruto gasped aloud. Her pupils were a blood red and she was growling savagely at Hinata. "Get back!" Naruto yelled towards Hinata and Boruto. "What about you dad?!" Boruto yelled back, as he was getting a safe distance away from Sakura.

"If the situation is what I think it is, I am the only one who can safely be near her right now." Naruto said sadly as he started believing his assumption that just maybe:

Sakura has some of the 9- tail's chakra in her.


	5. Chapter 5: Explanation

Sakura screamed as she was being taken over by some type of evil chakra that was possessing her body. "It burns!" Sakura screamed. Naruto could only hold her, wishing he could take the pain away from her and keep it to himself. "Kurama," Naruto told the fox in his mind. "You'd better have a good explanation for this!" Before he could let Kurama respond, Sakura had jumped out of his arms and charged towards Hinata. Hinata had prepared her Twin Lion Fists to prepare for an attack and Boruto had made a Rasengan in his hands. "Don't hurt her!" Naruto screamed, running after his pink- haired friend.

Right before Sakura was able to slash Hinata with her claws, Tsunade appeared and put a small piece of paper on Sakura's chest. "Stabilize!" Tsunade said aloud as the chakra started to retreat from Sakura's body. Some medical ninja were about to put Sakura on a stretcher, when Naruto told them to wait.

**"It's about time that I give you that explanation now, but I need you, Killer Bee, Tsunade, Kakashi, Yamato, Hinata, Boruto, and Sakura to be there." **Kurama told Naruto. Naruto nodded his head, "Kurama says that he has an explanation for this and he needs us to be there to hear it. I have a jutsu that will allow us to go to where he is caged and talk to him there. Sakura needs to be there too." Naruto explained, though he really didn't see the purpose of bringing Hinata and Boruto along.

Tsunade nodded, "Who else does he need to see?"

"He's asking for me, you, Sakura, Kakashi- sensei, Cpt. Yamato, Hinata, and Boruto. He also needs Killer Bee as well."

"Your clone came to me and asked for Killer Bee when he was explaining what happened. He should be in my office now, which will be the safest place for us to go to talk with the 9- tails."

Kakashi and Yamato appeared next to Tsunade. "Lady Tsunade," Yamato started, "We sensed a large chakra spike near this area that was similar to when Naruto is transforming. What's going on?"

"It wasn't Naruto, it was Sakura." Tsunade answered. They both seemed utterly shocked and she just continued. "Kurama says that he has an explanation for us, he needs you two to be hear. Unless authorized. This conversation is to stay kept a secret. Does everyone understand that?" Tsunade asked. Everyone nodded and the three most concerned and miffed people out of that whole group right now was Naruto, Tsunade, and Kakashi, because they had the closest bonds to Sakura, with Naruto's bond being to closest one of course.

*Naruto and the others appear in the hokage room, where killer- bee was waiting for them to return. Naruto performs his jutsu and they are now all inside of Kurama's dungeon, or whatever it's called*

**"Glad you all could make it." **Kurama started off.

"Cut the crap fox, what the hell is going on with Sakura!" Naruto yelled, holding Sakura on his back.

**"Okay, okay, you want blunt, I will give you blunt! Sakura is now the jinchuriki of the 9- tailed vixen!" **Kurama explained. Everyone practically died upon hearing the news. "9- tailed vixen? Just what games are you playing here fox?" Kakashi yelled.

**"Would you all just shut up and let me finish, dang! Now, as we all know, when I was taken away from Naruto during the 4th Great Ninja War, my chakra was spreaded to everyone on our side in the battle field. Sakura, being the first, since she was the one keeping Naruto alive before the other half of me had been placed in him by his father. Bee will explain why, but while the chakra left everyone else, it stayed with Sakura and it mixed into her chakra flow. After the war was won and the tailed beast were set free, Sakura somehow absorbed more of my chakra. Now why she's a vixen. I'm going to let Bee explain. It's too complicated and you interrupted me from a nap!" **Kurama finished, and canceled the connection of their conversation off, sending them back into the hokage's office.

Everyone was quiet and shocked. Sakura's jaw was dropped open, Naruto was trembling with anger, Tsunade walked over to her desk and pulled out an expensive bottle of Sake. "Okay, so now that that's out of the way, I will further explain." Killer Bee said, stepping out of the dark corner he was in. Everyone took a seat on the furniture that was arranged in the office, with Sakura being in Naruto's lap. He refused to let her sit on the floor.

"The reason why Sakura absorbed Kurama's chakra is my guess because she left an opening when she was keeping Naruto alive." Tsunade started. Everyone turned to her. "Sometimes, though this rarely happens, when chakra is released at a far to fast pace than it is usually released, the act can reverse in some sort of way. But why is Sakura a jinchuriki, Bee?"

"You're right about that Lady hokage. But, she's a jinchuriki because of the amount of Kurama's chakra is in her. From what I've heard, Sakura, you have another personality in you, right" Bee asked. Sakura nodded her head. "If that's the case, then that is why she is the jinchuriki of a vixen instead of half of Kurama. Her darker personality changed the chakra of the 9- tails and now it's a vixen instead of a fox."

"Then why didn't she get burned, or why didn't the chakra kill her if she absorbed it?" Kakashi asked, making sure to take mental notes on the situation. "It's a mental thing. Either Naruto was somehow able to control the chakra going in her while he was unconscious, or she was able to control the chakra herself somehow. But my guess is that its probably both reasons. However, Naruto had to have some type of motive in order to control something like this while unconscious."

"It's obvious why if it has something to do with emotions." Captain Yamato budded in. "I found this out when Naruto got into a fight with Orochimaru." Both Naruto and Sakura gasped. Naruto didn't want to remember that time because that was when he transformed into four tails and hurt Sakura. Sakura gasped because she remembered that terrible day. After Yamato had stabilized him, his skin was almost completely gone. She had to put a heap of chakra in him to heal him. She remembered Yamato was trying to tell her something, but right when he was about to say anything, Naruto had woken up.

"Captain Yamato," Sakura started, bringing everyone's attention to her. "After that battle, I asked you if there was anything you could teach me to help Naruto. You said that there was nothing I could do, but you were about to say something after that before Naruto woke up." Yamato nodded, and Naruto was looking both confused, and interested. "I believe that what I was about to tell you is the reason why you've managed to survive the chakra of the 9-tails. When you were healing Naruto, through my years of being you, Naruto and Sai's captain, I knew that I saw a different look in your eyes. They had never been softer. Of course, back then, I was going to hesitate to tell you anyways because of what you did to Naruto after he woke up. I think we were all afraid of you then. That look in your eyes was passion and love, one of the biggest amounts that I have ever seen in a person. I was going to tell you that you love him just as much as he loves you." Yamato finished.

Boruto began to get curious, "So this is an emotional thing? I'm confused, isn't there a way to get the harmful chakra out of her?" He began to start liking the woman. Anyone who can beat since into his dad and be nice to him at the same time. Naruto was shocked. He couldn't agree with his son more, but he was surprised that he even cared about Sakura in that way. "I agree, there's got to be some way." Naruto said. Killer Bee shook his head. "There is a way, however, it will kill her in the process. By now, her chakra is completely infused with the vixen's. Taking away the vixen would have the same effect as taking away any jinchuriki from any other normal one such as you, me, or Gaara."

"So, there is no way we can help her?" Tsunade asked, her voice wavering a bit. Great, now she was pissed. "There can only be one way," Kakashi spoke up, coming out from the corner he was in. "We have to seal the vixen's chakra in her so that it won't leak out of her, or worse, having her go full nine tails. The vixen does have 9 tails right?" Killer Bee nodded his head yes. Sakura was trembling, "What's going to happen to me?" She asked, on the verge of tears.. "Nothing bad, I swear on my life! I won't let anything bad ever happen to you!" Naruto promised. "I don't like the solution, but if sealing the vixen's chakra in you is the only way that you'll be safe, I will do anything in my power to save you."

Everyone on the room was a bit shocked by Naruto's behavior. Hinata, feeling left out, decided to speak up. "Well, how are we supposed to seal the chakra inside of her. I mean, the 4th hokage died sealing half of Kurama inside Naruto. Someone has to be the sacrifice, and Naruto doesn't know how to use the jutsu." She finished. Hinata made sure that Naruto was left out of the question for being a human sacrifice.

Everyone went silent. Naruto was beyond pissed. He was so angry that his face was turning extremely red. Sakura felt Naruto's grip tighten around her waist. She was growing even more nervous. "I can learn the jutsu, I can't just lay around doing nothing when Sakura can die!" Naruto yelled. "No! You're going to be the 6th hokage! You can't just give up your own- "

"I don't care about being the hokage! I don't want to be hokage if it means that Sakura's life is going to end up like my childhood! I couldn't even keep my promise to Sakura and bring Sasuke back! I have to do something!" Naruto responded angrily. Now it was Sakura's turn to get mad. "How many times must I tell you! Stop chasing after Sasuke! I am through with him. I don't want anything else to do with him. We are friends and that is it. I don't know exactly where he is, but he is out there somewhere doing something good. I don't want you to have another burden placed about you from me or anyone else. I can't have you going through that ever again!" Sakura stated. Everyone was shocked, they had always known Sakura to be the one always chasing after Sasuke. But it was Naruto who was doing the chasing now. They'd never expect it to be that way around, well everyone except Kakashi and Tsunade. They knew that Naruto has been chasing after Sasuke ever since he found out that he left.

Hinata was pissed now. He would give up his life and his number one dream for Sakura, but he used that as an excuse just to get away from her and Boruto, though now, she felt like he was only trying to escape her. How did her life end up like this? Sure, it was better before Sakura came back-. "Sakura." Hinata thought. Everything wasn't as bad as it was before she showed up and ruin everything she had to work with in order to get Naruto back. Hinata walked towards Naruto, ignoring the pinkett sitting in his lap, fighting the urge to push her off. "Naruto, are you sure that this is what you want? You'd leave everybody behind. You've worked so hard to get to where you are now. Boruto, I'm sure he'd miss you if you were to give up your life like that." Hinata reasoned.

This only caused Naruto to hold Sakura even tighter to him. "I'd do anything to protect my first female special person. She, along with other people, means the world to me. Do you know how it feels to be treated like… like some… monster?! It's a terrible experience and Sakura has also worked hard to get to where she is now. I know what I've done, but I want the best for Sakura and you all know that!" Naruto responded. He saw Hinata's point, but she, along with probably the entirety of the 5 nations, knew that he'd put other people's life ahead of his.

"Naruto's right," Yamato started. "And fortunately for him, I've heard of other ways that tailed beasts can be sealed without the jutsu caster dying." Tsunade's face brightened up at this. "You meant there's a way that the both of them can get through this without getting harmed?" Yamato nodded his head. "You know what? I've heard of a jutsu that can certainly work for Sakura. However, the jutsu takes up a huge amount of chakra, so much that the only people in this room that can do it is Naruto, Tsunade, Kakashi, and me." Killer Bee said. Naruto smiled a bit, "When do we get started?" Killer Bee took a minute to respond, "We should be able to do it next week. I need to do further research to see if there are any precautions we need to take. Until then, Lady Tsunade, I suggest you assign Naruto to keep an eye on her until then. He's best at keeping her mind off of sensitive topics that can provoke the vixen inside of her."

**"That vixen has a name you know." **Kurama stated, angry that they were misusing his mate's name. Yes, the nine- tailed vixen was technically his 'girlfriend'. He'd wait to tell Naruto that though. "And what is her name be?" Naruto asked the fox. Kurama smirked, **"Her name is Mariko."** Kurama stated. Naruto smiled and turned his head towards the kunoichi in his lap. Sakura blushed under his stare, "What is it, Naruto?" Naruto chuckled, "The vixen has a name." Everyone in the room looked towards Naruto, waiting for her name. "Her name is Mariko, and she is Kurama's 'mate'." Naruto teased. Sakura blushed even harder and Hinata had a jealous pout on her face. Kakashi, Tsunade, and Killer Bee laughed at the moment. "Well, it's a beautiful name." Tsunade said.

Naruto laughed, "Yes, yes it is."


	6. Chapter 6: Life Will Go On

**AN: Okay, so updates are a little slow. Sorry. I am trying to figure out if I want to redo Forgiveness, or just drop it and delete it. Oh and also, negative or positive, I appreciate the reviews. Yes, Naruto is being a TERRIBLE father. Yes, Hinata will be somewhat the antagonist here. And on that last note. I usually don't do Hinata like this, but if yall don't appreciate her being a little diva- ish, you might not like this story. Some of her personality will come from Road to Ninja so if you've seen that movie, you should know how she's going to act. And what I am trying to do with this story is a 'female character development', something that Kishimoto clearly didn't do. Don't get me wrong, the female characters in the show are great. I just really wish that they let Hinata grow away from Naruto at some point and Sakura stay away from Sasgay. SERIOUSLY! YOU PEOPLE CALL NARUSAKU ABUSIVE, I CAN SEE THAT, BUT SOME OF YALL SUPPORT SASUSAKU AND HE TRIED TO KILL HER LIKE 3 FRICKIN TIMES. ON TOP OF THAT, SOME OF YALL NARUHINA FANS ARE FANS OF THAT BECAUSE "OH POOR HINATA. SHE NEEDS A MAN THAT CAN LOOK AFTER HER AND GIVE HER PURE LOVE! BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, HER CRUSH IS ADORABLE!"**

**I'm sorry, I am not one to rant like this. But there are some people who has a real sense of relationships on Deviantart and I can't help but add some of their conversation on here. THE WORLD NEEDS TO SEE REASON!**

**EHEM! Anyways, on to the story!  
**

* * *

Sakura, Naruto, Hinata, and Boruto walked out of the Hokage's office. As they were walking down the hall, they ran into Ino and Sarada, who looked like they were running away from something. "Sarada! What are you doing here?" Sakura called out. Sarada turned around with tears in her eyes. Ino held on to her hand, with tears in her eyes as well. "Sakura," Ino started out. "We are so sorry for dropping in on your conversation. But, we feel terribly sorry for what happened to you."

Sakura just shook her head no, "I was planning on telling you anyways. But you have to promise to keep this a secret. Not many people know about this and they shouldn't know about this either, understood?" Ino nodded her head, "Yes, we both are. But as much as I would like to help you, I think that Naruto would be the most qualified since he's dealt with the strongest tailed- beast his whole life." Sarada looked towards the blond man and recognized him. He was the man that ran into them when she and her mother first got back into the village.

"Naruto?" Sarada asked. She needed to know that only the man she met had wild blond hair and whisker marks on the side of his face with sky blue eyes and wore orange. Yep, that seemed unique enough. Naruto smiled, "Hey Sarada! Don't worry, I swear to protect your mother with my life, that's my ninja way! I will always protect my loved ones and comrades." Naruto stated, as he held Sakura tight around her waist, causing her to blush more than she originally was from him calling her his 'loved one'. Sarada smiled a huge grin similar to how Naruto smiled when he was in a cheerful mood. "I always knew you would. I knew it that night when you walked me and my mother home from your house. You may not admit it, but I can tell you two used to have it in for each other. I saw you two- "

Ino had placed her hands around Sarada's mouth and started walking backwards. "Shut up! Hinata is right there!" Ino whispered in Sarada's ear. Sarada had told her about what happened between Naruto and Sakura that night. Though it was really an act of pure friendship (especially since they haven't seen each other in 12 years), there was no need in telling Hinata about it. Ino could practically feel the jealousy coming off of Hinata. Ino waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, kids! Am I right, ha ha ha! Anyways, I better finish showing Sarada the rest of the village, it's pretty big you know?" Ino said sheepishly. She burst into a speed walk, hauling Sarada over her shoulder. "Hey! Watch it you flower girl! You are being unreasonable! I was only going to say that they had- "Ino had covered Sarada's mouth with some tape that she kept in her apron and ran out of the tower. "See you all later!" Ino yelled.

Naruto and Sakura hoped that Ino read the silent 'thank you' on their lips before she ran off with Sarada in tow. "Well, that was- "

"Weird?" Boruto asked, finishing his father's sentence.

"Yeah, really weird. Well, at least I can see where she gets it from- "Naruto said looking at Sakura, only to earn a punch on top of his head. "Hey! Watch it you baka!" Sakura growled. Her long pink hair was moving about her head in the form of nine big clumps of hair. "Wow!" Boruto said, "It looks just like grandma's hair!" Naruto looked up and saw what his son was talking about. Though his mom was dead, it was like looking at Kushina, a Kushina who dyed her hair pink. He himself would often get that he looks like his father and that Sakura would be like Kushina because of her temper. "Yeah, she does." Naruto agreed. Sakura got a little embarrassed and willed herself to calm down. Her hair fell back down when she did.

Naruto jumped up with a sudden realization. "We've got to get home! I have to store up my chakra and Sakura, you can stay with us. We have plenty of room for you and Sarada to stay. Do you agree Hinata? Hinata really didn't want Sakura to stay. That would be an issue on her plan to get Naruto back. But she wasn't going to be a complete emo about it. "Yeah, there are two extra guest rooms, so her and Sarada can have those." Hinata said. Naruto grinned and took Sakura's had, "Come on, I have something to give you!" He literally dragged Sakura out the door before tossing her in the air. Sakura screamed at him, "Naaaaarrruuuuuutoooooooo!" Sakura yelled and gasped when she landed on his back. "Come on Hinata and Boruto, we don't have all day! In fact, Boruto, can you go get Sakura from Ino's flower shop. I sense their chakra there." He called out, still running with Sakura in tow (imagine that episode of Naruto Shippuden when Gai was carrying Kakashi on his back). Hinata ran to catch up with them, "Naruto- kun! Wait up!"

~~X~~

Sakura was holding her breath the hold time. She didn't want to, Naruto basically forced her to wrap her arms around him. She didn't want that much contact with him, especially after that scene that her daughter made earlier. She hoped Ino told her to keep shut about it. If not, she would tell her herself.

Sakura found herself in Naruto's house when she was rudely awakened out of her plans to stitch Sarada's lips together by Naruto violently shaking her. "Earth to Sakura, come on! Don't tell me the Mariko has taken over your spirit already." Naruto panicked. Sakura glared at him and he gulped loudly. Hinata was just plainly watching the scene from the door way. "Good, you're awake. Now, this is your room. It's almost as big as the master bed room, except the closet is not a walk in closet. You will be staying here for as long as you need to, okay?"

Sakura shook her head no, "Naruto, I don't really want me and Sarada to be intruding on your personal life like this- "  
"You are a part of my personal life Sakura."

"But you have a- "

"I got you something." Naruto cut her off. He was going to have a talk with her about how he felt about his current relationship with Hinata. Naruto pulled out a velvet red box and handed it to Sakura. Hinata, growing in jealousy and interest, walked towards the bed where they were sitting and looked over to the box Sakura was just handed. Sakura hesitantly took the box and slowly opened it. Hinata leaned in closer to get a better look. She gasped when she saw it. Naruto grinned widely. Sakura picked up the small accessory and her eyes glimmered at it. "Naruto… I- "

"When I was controlling the kyuubi, my mother came to me and helped out a bit. She gave me this hair clip and told me to only give it to some one like her. She's a really feisty woman who knows the definition of 'tough love'. I know you've seen her before. Remember when Madara had put us in that alternate dimension?" Sakura nodded her head. They were ordered not to tell anyone about what happened that night, but during the 4th Great Ninja War, their knowledge of that experience became an asset to the battle field when Kakashi had put Obito in another dimension. She remembered Naruto's mom, she could be sweet one moment, but then the next moment, she would be pounding someone on top of their head for being an idiot. Yep, that sounded like her.

"Of course I remember Naruto, but wouldn't you think- "

"Sakura, you are the only woman I've ever met to have a similar personality to my mom. Well at least someone that I'm close too and is similar to her. I already broke one of her wishes, it would mean a lot to me if you accepted this." Naruto said. Sakura only nodded in reply. He took the hair clip from her hand and placed it in her hair, just like how it was placed in Kushina's hair. Hinata passed her the small mirror that was on the night stand. Sakura gasped when she looked at her reflection. "So, do you like it?" Naruto asked. "I love it, and I'll never cut my hair again." Naruto almost cried hearing those words. He knew that Sakura would take care of her hair now. He remembered how his mother said that she'd beat up anyone who had something negative to say about her red hair. Now with Sakura wearing that hair clip, she looked just as beautifully dangerous as his mother did. He was shocked when Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him in a tight hug. He slowly hugged her back, letting her comfortably nuzzle against the side of his neck.

Hinata was growing uncomfortable with all the affection that Sakura was showing Naruto, so she decided to break up the tension. Fortunately for her, a diversion was right at their front door. "Guys, Boruto and Sarada are back. We should go and meet up with them." Hinata stated. Sakura pulled away from the hug, blushing a bit from embarrassment from hugging on Naruto like that. Naruto was also blushing. She still had on her small short shorts and tank- top, so her breast were pressed up against his chest while they were hugging. "Ri- right!" Sakura stuttered. She immediately stood up and went towards the door, "Oh, and thank you, Naruto." Sakura said, before leaving to greet Boruto and Sarada at the front door.

Naruto sighed and fell back on the bed. "I've been waiting forever to give that to her. I was so afraid of how she would react, so I never gave it to her earlier. I never expected her to accept it like that or accept it at all." Hinata sat beside Naruto on the bed.

"Naruto, what exactly was your mother like?" Hinata was curious. What did he mean by 'breaking his mother's promise'? Naruto sighed and gave Hinata his full attention while he was sitting up. "While I was trying to control the nine- tails powers, my mother appeared. She told me about the past jinchuriki before me, including herself and the first Hokage's wife. It was an interesting story, then I asked about how her and dad met." Naruto paused and grinned up at Hinata. "Oh?" Hinata said, returning the smile. "My dad was a lot like you. He was a reserved person and ever since my mother had come to the village, he'd watch her with interest. They'd given her the title: 'The Red Hot Habanero'. When she was angry, her hair would flair up around her like Kurama's tails."

Hinata giggled at this. Naruto continued, "But about her personality, she was a hothead. She would always beat on people who picked on her, especially when it came to her hair. They'd always be jealous of how soft and conditioned she would keep and how it was strange that she was a red head. Any ways, she was one day taken by some ninja who wanted her powers. You see, the Uzumaki clan was known for their large amount of chakra reserves and their long life spans, so she was sent here for protection. While she was being taken away from the village, she left trails of her red hair behind. My father noticed that she was missing and went to look for her. He noticed her trail of red hair and followed it. He was able to rescue her and that night, she told me that it was the night she fell in love with him. He was the first person to compliment her hair."

Hinata nodded, "She does kind of seem like Ino or Sakura. They used to always keep their attention on their hair more than anything." Naruto looked up at this, "What do you mean?"

"Well… you said that you broke one of her promises, right? I was just wondering if it had anything to do with Sakura- "

"Yeah…I -it did. She… um…. Well- "

"Dad! Are you and mom here?" Boruto yelled from down stairs.

"Le- Let's go see our son. Shall we?" Naruto said, thankful that there was a distraction from this conversation. He'd rather leave this until after this little 'problem' that they were currently dealing with was over. Hinata nodded and they both left and went down stairs to meet up with the others.

~~X~~

Sakura was sitting down with Boruto and Sarada when Naruto and Hinata came down stairs. Sakura smiled at all of them and stretched a bit, "Hinata, your son is a direct copy of Naruto. They're both ramen loving idiots and they love pulling crazy pranks. But they can be the most lovable idiots in the world. "Both Naruto and Boruto huffed and turned their heads away from Sakura blushing while her and Hinata just laughed at their cuteness. Sarada just shook her head, "And I'm staying here? I don't like ramen. It is too salty and can lead to later health problems. I will not heal anyone of you dudes who gets sick from eating it all the time!" she said in a snotty tone.

Naruto smiled a devilish grin, "Hmph, seems like your daughter is a lot like how you used to be back in our genin days, you're both snotty little brats- "Naruto meant to say the last part in his head, but his eyes widened with sudden realization. "You're right dad- "Boruto agreed before he was cut off by his father putting his hand over his mouth. Naruto slowly pointed over at Sakura and Sarada, who were cracking their fists and their necks angrily with blank white eyes glaring at the two men. Hinata just slowly backed away. "And he seems to have inherited your big, loud, and obnoxious mouth!" Sakura growled, with the pink chakra surrounding her form like the nine- tails cloak. Naruto carried Boruto over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and ran out the door. Sakura and Sarada ran after them, with Sakura running on all fours towards the adult blond and Sarada running after the child blond.

Hinata ran after them laughing a bit at the situation. "This is going to be a long day!" Hinata thought as she ran after the chase scene.

~X~

Naruto and Boruto sat at the team 7's training grounds, tied up to the tree stumps that were left there. They both had huge lumps on the top of their heads from their beating. Hinata was trying to suppress a laugh coming from her throat when she saw the looks on their faces. "Yep, and she has monstrous strength just like you do too, Sakura!" Naruto mumbled, though Boruto was able to hear it and he nodded in agreement. "Oi! What was that!?" Sakura and Sarada yelled at the same time. "Nothing!" Naruto and Boruto yelled back. Sakura sighed and went to untie them. After she untied Naruto, the pink chakra around her receded and she was back to normal. She gave him a warm smile, to which he returned. "Come on Sakura- chaannn! Aren't you going to apologize?" Naruto wined.

"Have I ever apologized? Besides, you deserved it this time."

"So you admit that you've hit me for no reason in the past?"

Sakura growled, "Don't push it you baka! And for you information, you've done some things that were worth getting a slap upside your head before." Naruto just let a devious smirk spread across his face before tossing Sakura over his shoulder the same way he did Boruto, "Come on you guys! Someone needs to cool off." Naruto smirked. He made two shadow clones. One grabbed Sarada and threw her over his shoulder just like the original did with her mother. He whispered something in her ear and they disappeared to Naruto's house.

Sakura growled, "What did your clones whisper to my daughter, and where are they going?!" Naruto gave her a mischievous smile, "Come one Sakura- chan, don't you trust me?" Hinata then joined the conversation, "Seriously Naruto, what is your clone doing with Sarada?" Naruto sweat dropped, realizing what the mothers were talking about. "You've got to be kidding me, I'm not a pedophile."

Sakura huffed, "Yeah right! If you train with a pervert, you become one yourself! You've been acting like one every since you came back with him. Speaking of the devil, where is he?" Naruto sighed, "I don't know, probably off in some other village collecting 'research'. He's been out of the village for a while now, but he will be back soon!" He finished with a big thumbs up. "Oooo, great! Now can you please put me down now!?" Hinata agreed, "I bet she's feeling uncomfortable up there. Maybe you should just let her go." Naruto smiled at Hinata, "Jealous much?" He grabbed Hinata and threw him over his shoulder.

Hinata and Sakura looked at each other. They were both blushing and they just sighed and dropped their heads. "Aww! You two are blushing aren't you? I bet it looks adorable!" Naruto teased. Hinata just blushed even harder, while Sakura got mad and pinched Naruto's butt as hard as she could. Naruto produced an extremely loud yelp. "Ouch! Okay! Which one of you did it!?" Both girls giggled and then busted out into a huge fit of laughter. "That's it, I was going to wait until the clones got back with our bathing suits, but I am dumping you both in with your clothes on!" Naruto said as he started running off to a near by lake, with Boruto following not too far behind.

~~X~~

Sakura was grateful that the clones returned with their bathing suits and her daughter. She started kicking around and Naruto dropped her, to which she skillfully landed on her feet. She took her bathing suit and walked off into the woods to change. Sarada had to run after her mother, she was walking fast, and she didn't have time to get hers out of the scroll that they were carrying. Naruto just shrugged while the clones gave him, Hinata, and Boruto their scrolls and dispersed. The rest of them went to change while Sakura and Sarada were coming back. "Did you bring them?" Sakura asked her daughter. "Yep!" Sarada pulled out some extra scrolls that contained other stuff for swimming, like sunscreen and towels. She got the scrolls that contained some lounging chairs that here mother liked to use.

They got the stuff out the stuff out the scrolls and set it up. Sakura set her chair up near the lake and put her towel over it. Sarada was putting on her sunscreen when Naruto and the others were coming back. Sarada was able to catch the drawl that was coming from her mouth when she saw Naruto shirtless. "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Sarada screamed in her head. Sakura just ignored it and laid on her chair. She wore a red bikini bra with matching bottoms, but it was covered by a green swim skirt that was decorated with cherry blossoms. She had a huge sun hat that covered her eyes when it was tilted down, and the red lip stick was teasing. Boruto and Naruto stared at Sakura's body on the chair and both began to drawl at the image. Hinata was wearing a lavender bikini set that was decorated with white dandelions. She saw the two boys staring and made a dramatic cough, "You wouldn't want Sakura to find out that you two were staring at her like that now would you?"

Sakura gritted her teeth and abruptly stood up from her comfortable spot, marching over to Naruto. As much as he was enjoying the way her hips moved while she was stomping towards him, he started to wish he found some type of protection. "You creep! I knew you were a pervert! Now look what you've done! You passed it on to your own kid!" Sakura said as she slapped Naruto a few feet away from her. Hinata would've been mad at Sakura if it was in a different situation, but she would've done the same thing if Sakura wasn't going to. Sakura huffed and walked back over to her chair and continued to relax. Boruto was still staring at Sakura. "Hot and feisty, I like it!" Boruto thought as his dad came back with a lump on the top of his head. "Hey! I am not a pervert! It's not my fault that you decided to buy such… such… attractive lingerie!" Sakura snorted and laid her head back to relax. "Yeah right, it's a bathing suit. And I am more covered than your girlfriend over there! I wouldn't be surprised if she started smashing your brains out your head for being such an idiot. Hinata, that's good advice! It should keep him in line! It works for me." Hinata nodded, "I usually don't like to hit people, him in particular. But, he has been acting strange lately." By now, Boruto and Sarada were splashing each other in the lake, just playing around being kids.

"Oh? Naruto's not acting normal you say?" Sakura asked, glaring at the said blonde. "Yeah, he's been acting… well… not himself since… around… Boruto was born?" Hinata said unsurely. Sakura has known Naruto for years, so just this information alone was confusing her. And with him being the last Namikaze (and one of the two Uzumaki), she'd think that he would want to restore his clan. Also, from her years of knowing him, she knows when Naruto wants to talk or not. And when he didn't want to talk, she knew better than to prod him on about it. But for this situation, she'd get to the bottom of it later when they were alone. "I'm sure that by now, you should understand that he didn't grow up with a lot of parenting experience. So give him credit for that. He's probably just nervous." Sakura defended. Naruto gave her a look that said, 'thanks for saving me' and she returned him with a 'this conversation isn't over' look. He gulped at this but decided that it was going to come up sooner or later.

Sakura saw that Naruto looked stuck and even she felt the tension of the conversation. "Well, that's an issue we can worry about later. Let's go join the kids before they end up drowning." Sakura said, to which the kids turned to her and angrily responded "HEY!" Hinata, still unsure about what was up with those looks they were giving each other, decided to just drop the topic and join the kids. 'We are definitely picking this topic up when we get back home.' Hinata thought. Naruto was walking behind Hinata to join the kids when he felt a tug on his arm. He turned to see Sakura giving him a concerned look. "That bad, huh?" she asked.

Naruto nodded, "Too be honest, I thought that I could give Hinata a chance. But something's just not right. I don't think I can stay with- "

"Nonsense!" Sakura growled, which surprised Naruto. She sighed, "I mean, I just want the best for you. That's why I pushed you two together in the first place. *sighs*, We can talk about this later. Hokage monument?" Naruto nodded and gave her a reassuring smile, "I am trying my best. I will try hard for you Sakura- chan!" And with that, Naruto headed into the water to pick Boruto up on his shoulders and swim around with Hinata and Sarada. Sakura sat back down in her chair and sighed. 'Great, just great! I already placed a burden upon him with Sasuke (thank god that's over. THE BOY WAS REALLY GOING TO KILL HIMSELF IF LADY LUCK WASN'T ON DUTY!). Now I have another burden on him about his love life. You're a GREAT friend Sakura!' She thought to herself as she tried to relax. 'Oh well, we'll hop on this later'. And with that, she drifted off to sleep.

~~X~~

Naruto groaned when he went to bed that night. He was tired from all that wrestling he did with Boruto and Sarada back at the lake. "I have never felt so tired in my life!" Naruto complained. Hinata had just joined him in the bed to hear his statement. She giggled, "Well, you are 29 years old. I think all of that energy you used to have is now gone and your age is catching up with you." Naruto glared at her, "Hey! 29 is not that old!" Naruto complained. Hinata just giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night! My golden aged boyfriend." She teased. She smiled when she heard Naruto mumble something incoherently and went to sleep himself.

~~~X~~~

Sakura couldn't sleep that night. She kept having these weird dreams about this evil pink fox that was cursing at her, saying something like: You LET HIM GET AWAY! Or I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE GOOD FOR NOTHING THE FIRST MOMENT I WAS PLACED IN YOU! The dreams were less often before she found out that Hinata and Naruto were together. And when she got back to the village, she's been trying to suppress this awful feeling she'd get when around Hinata. The murderous atmosphere that would clog her mind was almost frightful and she was beginning to struggle with it more and more as the days went by. Sarada was sleeping soundly in her room and Boruto was playing video games on his TV. She scolded him about it before, but she gave up after the 5th time and threats on telling his parents about it. Sakura walked over to the bay window and sat down on the seating area that was in front of it (or whatever it's called). She closed her eyes and concentrated on keeping the evil chakra inside of her. Sure, Sakura may have been known for superior chakra control, but this was a whole different story. This chakra was foreign and a bit to much for her to handle. She felt herself about to loose all control when she heard a knock on her door.

"Sakura- chan? Can I come in?" Naruto asked. Sakura got up and opened the door for him. "I knew you weren't sleep, unless Mariko was trying to escape you already in your sleep." Naruto chuckled. This earned him a sucker punch in the shoulder. "Naruto! This is serious! I'm starting to think that I can't hold her, and I am starting to panic!" Naruto saw the pink haze growing around her and the pain in his gut was starting to grow too. Naruto grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eye, "Sakura- chan, I may act like a total… dufus… baka? Whatever. Anyways, the point is that I will always be here for you, no matter what!" Naruto promised. Sakura's eyes had gone from its usual emerald green hue to a darker green until it just went red. Naruto stepped back a little bit when he noticed this. Sakura growled a bit and tackled Naruto on the bed. "Uh… Sa- Sakura- chan?"

**"Oh god, get out of here now!"** Kurama warned.

"Kurama! What the heck is going on here?!"

**"Well she's not in heat. Thank kami for that. But she is a little over protective of you?" **Kurama said unsurely. "Yeah. A 'little' overprotective. I've seen the way she snarls at me when I am around Hinata." Naruto deadpanned. Kurama only chuckled, leaving Naruto to deal with the 'angry?" pinkett above him. "Mine!" Sakura growled at him. "Um… Sakura- chan, hello? Are you in there?" He was able to flip them over, trying his best to keep her from leaning in to a kiss. He yelped when he felt something soft brush against his arm. "Holy- "

"MOM! What's going on in here?" Sarada yelled. "SARADA! Thank goodness you're here! You've seen your mom do this before right? Um… How on Earth do I fix this?!" Naruto shouted. By now, Hinata and Boruto showed up. The kids were blushing at the scene while Hinata was turning red with rage. "Okay, WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE!?" Hinata roared. Sakura growled at Hinata and tried to pry herself away from Naruto's hold on her. "Long story short: I got that pain in my gut and came to check on… AH! Sakura- chAAAAN! She got a little… angry I guess and OW! THIS HAPPENED!" Naruto explained while screaming in pain. Sakura was biting him trying to get free. He literally had to sit on her chest to keep her still. "Wow! This is epic dad!" Boruto yelled. And how come you don't grow actual tails?"

"Yeah, these things are super soft!" Sarada chimed in. "AND ARE THOSE EARS?!" The two kids said together. Naruto slowly turned back to see Sakura with currently 3 tails and pink fuzzy fox ears popping out the top of her head. She also had 3 whisker marks on each of her cheeks, matching the ones he had. On some level, it was adorable, including mention the red tent that appeared on her lips to make it look like she was wearing lipstick. But it was dangerous and could lead to the whole house tumbling down with her on top of the wreckage. "Well how are we going to change her back?" Hinata asked. She wasn't pleased with what she walked in to. But the only thing that kept her from lashing out at both of them was remembering that if it wasn't for Sakura, Naruto probably wouldn't have even noticed her. Naruto was lost, this had to end ASAP!

"Alright Kurama, this is your mate… WHAT DO I DO?!" Naruto yelled at Kurama. **"I don't know! This is the first time a tailed beast has ever had this situation to occur. Um… pet her whisker marks?" **Naruto huffed, "This is so humiliating. He got off her chest and kneeled beside her. He gently caressed her cheeks. Sakura leaned into his touch and began to purr. Sarada and Boruto made heart eyes at the scene, "So- So- So adorable!" they said together. Sakura eventually calmed down and found herself getting ready to lick Naruto's cheek. "AAAAHHHHH!" she screamed as she slapped Naruto to the other side of the room. She got up and started pacing. "Okay, I was freaking out. You came to help me and said something sympathetic and sweet… then I blacked out and… I WAKE UP TO YOU TRYING TO KISS ME!?

"In my defense, YOU WERE GOING TO LICK ME! LICK ME!" Naruto yelled back. Sakura gave him a bratty attituded and huffed. "Yeah right… I don't care if you can prove your innocence. I still don't trust you!" Naruto gave her a mischievous smirk, "Oh come on Sakura- chaaan! You know that you trust me with your life. And guess what?" He said turning her around to face him, "I trust you to!" He whispered loud enough so that the others could hear. Sakura scoffed and gently pushed him away from her, "Yeah, don't get to comfortable. I sometimes don't trust you with my life." She said in a bratty tone. Naruto sweat- dropped and turned away from her, "Hmph, I try to be nice and you act just as snotty as ever!" Sakura's angry vein twitched. "Eh? What was that? You wanna speak up ramen boy or do I need to pull your vocal cords further up your throat so that I can hear you better!" Sakura threatened. Naruto yelped and hid behind Hinata.

Hinata rolled her eyes, "Well if nothing is going on, then I am going back to bed. Try not to keep up with this ruckus Sakura. We all need our sleep." Sakura, uncharacteristically, just simply nodded and turned to go back to bed. Naruto balled his fists up and glared at Hinata. "What is your problem! I thought that we were both on the side of helping Sakura. You could try to be a bit nicer."

"I'm sorry. I know that helping a friend would be a good thing, but I never agreed to have her living her with us in the first place! This was a one- sided decision you made by yourself Naruto- kun!" Hinata defended. Naruto growled and walked started to walk to his room when Sakura spoke up. "Naruto, Hinata is right. You can't just make decisions without asking for permission first. You're not the only one who lives here, you know." Naruto then turned his glare back to her. Right when he was about to speak up, she continued. "Not that I am not grateful for your act of kindness or anything. In fact, it will always be appreciated." Naruto's glare softened to a warm smile. "You have no idea how much that means to me Sakura- chan." He then turned to Hinata and Boruto, "I am sorry if you feel some type of way about me inviting Sakura- chan to stay with us. You both should know by now that I do nearly everything out of kindness and she has been by my side ever since we were put on the same team back in our genin days. I was only trying to help."

Sakura's heart felt like it was wrapped by a warm blanket. It only got warmer when Boruto spoke up against his own mother. "Dad's right mom, she's been through a lot and this is the least we can do to help her. I wouldn't be surprised if this act of kindness would only be a little payback for the amount of things she's done for you. Ms. Haruno hasn't done anything wrong and she's starting to go through what dad went through. Can't you feel at least a little bad for her?" Boruto defended. By now, Hinata was pissed. This woman was going to come into her home, take her boyfriend, and turn her own son against her? No, the Hyuga heiress wasn't going to have it in anyway. "Nothing wrong, HA! She's been doing everything wrong since she got back to the village! By her coming back, Naruto, tell me if I am wrong, she has awakened old feelings that he has buried down for her. She brought back a threat to the village. She probably has the council and any other villages turning against us because there's another jinchuriki. And you, Boruto, have been latching on to this woman and her daughter as if you belonged to them!" Hinata ranted.

Naruto slammed his fist against the wall, making a small dent in it, "I think that's just about enough Hinata!" he growled. His eyes had turned into red slits and he directed them straight at Hinata. She gulped and was starting to grow shocked, sad, and angry at the drop of the formality that he usually added at the end of her name. "Do you not realize what could've gone wrong if we didn't help her? Sure, you may be right about inviting her in without your consent and I'm sorry. But what I will not allow if for you to talk down on her like that! A threat you say? So are you calling me a threat too? She doesn't deserve to live the life that I've lived!" He shouted at Hinata. "No, you're not a threat because you can control your kyuubi. When we seal her, she still has to learn to stabilize her emotions so as not to release the vixen!" Hinata defended.

**"Oi, she may be right. But she needs to put some respect on my mate's name!" **Kurama growled. Naruto looked to Hinata and passed on the warning. Hinata just huffed and left the room. "We will talk about this later, Naruto- kun." She walked out the room, urging Boruto to follow, which to everyone's surprise, he denied her. "I'm with dad on this one. You can't just bash Sakura like this for something that was out of her control! It was not her choice to become a jinchuriki. Please, just give her a chance." Boruto pleaded. Hinata huffed again, "Watch it son! Remember who your parents are!" Naruto's blood was boiling at this point. How dare she say such things. He wasn't one to get mad to the point where he just want to start hurting people, but dang it he was about to let Kurama loose if she kept up this act. "Naruto, Hinata's right. I shouldn't stay here. It's not safe to have another jinchuriki in here with your family, especially since I can't control her." Sakura said. Naruto growled, "Stay here, Boruto and Sarada, we'll be back." He said before grabbing Sakura and teleporting off somewhere.

"Well that's just great!" Boruto said, throwing his hands in the air and walking out. "I'm going to Ichiraku's, you coming?" Sarada just nodded, not sure of what she wanted to do now. Was she angry at Hinata for being mean to her mother while she was like this, yes. Does she think that the creepy eyed woman was being ungrateful to Sakura since she's the one who got Naruto to notice her in the first place, definitely yes. She pushed the thoughts out of her head and walked out the door with Boruto to get some ramen.

~~~X~~~

Sakura was shocked to see that they landed on the Hokage monument. She wasn't really expecting to be here so soon. But she decided that now was the best time to talk about it. "I am so sorry Sakura- chan. She's definitely not the Hinata we remember. She's gotten more bolder when it came to expressing her thoughts about certain topics." Naruto started. "I guess you know what time it is since you brought us up here." Sakura stated bluntly. Naruto nodded and looked down upon the village. It had advanced a lot since he was younger. The city of Konoha was bright with colors.

"So, exactly why have you been acting strange?"

"…"

"Naruto?"

Naruto jumped a bit. "Yeah? Oh, um… It's just. I don't know. I feel like if I tell you, you'll punch me all the way to Sunagakure." Sakura took in a deep breath, "No, Naruto, I won't. I promise. Right now, I am nice Sakura. I am the Sakura who will listen and try to be as understandable as possible." Naruto smirked at this, "In that case, you need to let her out more often." Sakura glared, "Are you trying to ruin the moment?!" He waved his hands defensively, "No, no, I am sorry!"

"Hmph, okay fine, just tell me already so we can head back."

"Well… I thought that I was happy with Hinata. She's everything a man could want in a woman. She's nice, sweet, kind, and she can cook. She's understanding, and we never really gotten in a serious argument until just a few moments ago. But don't worry, it's not your fault. I just… I don't know!" Naruto shouted angrily and slammed his hands on the railing above the hokage monuments. Sakura winced a little bit, but she then decided to still be supportive, wait, what was she thinking? Of course she was going to be supportive he was her best friend for kami's sake! "Naruto, love is an extremely confusing emotion. Trust me, I know how you feel- "

"How could your possibly understand Sakura!" Naruto boomed. Sakura stepped back again, and Naruto immediately felt guilty. "I am so, so, so sorry, Sakura- chan! I didn't mean to go off like that, especially not to you." Sakura shook her head, "No, no, it's cool. And I DO know how you feel. I just got over the exact same issue with Sasuke. I was sure that he was the one for me. After all that I've done to help him, he still didn't want me the way that I wanted him to. We both thought that we would work out, but we also both knew that it wouldn't last. Sasuke was never in to me in a 'romantic' way in the first place. I mean, that much I knew from the first few dates we went on. Everything else we did past that from him was out of pity and… well…"

"Sakura. Is there anything you're not telling me?"

"Well, Sasuke didn't just break up with me. We agreed on it together- "Naruto was shocked, he did not see this coming. "Wow…" Sakura looked down, a bit embarrassed, "Yeah. I couldn't stay with him knowing that he never truly loved me. It would only be hurting myself, and him because he admitted that we were good friends, and he didn't want me all on him all the time. We both agreed that it was time for us to move on." Naruto was still staring at the woman before him in shock. Was this the Sakura- chan that he still knew? Dang it! There was that question again. He swore, if she kept up with these surprises, he was literally going to force Ibiki to do a full hardcore interrogation course on the woman.

Sakura noticed his shocked look and glared towards her friend, "You don't believe me, don't you?" Naruto yelped in surprise and jumped back waving his hands defensively. "Sakura- chan! It's nothing like that! I am just surprised that you've… grown. You can't really blame me though, you've changed a lot… especially physically." Naruto defended, blushing at the last part. Sakura blushed at his compliment, "Um… thanks? Anyways, that is no the point here. I'm taking it as you and Hinata are going through the same thing, based on what you told me. Come on Naruto, it's not like you to hide things."

Naruto nodded, "You're right, I can't hide anything from you. You're my best friend…" He pulled Sakura by the hand and wrapped his arms her waist to pull her into a huge hug. Sakura blushed at the contact, but her years of getting rid of her soft side prepared her for situations like this, though strangely, Naruto was bringing a bit of that side out of her. "Naruto, as much as I appreciate your precious compliments, like you said, I HAVE grown and that means you cannot sweet talk me out of situations like this anymore!" Sakura growled. Naruto sighed and backed away from her. "Fine! I will tell you. Okay, I was in love with Hinata. Well, at least I thought I was. She, like I told you before, is amazing. She is so nice, kind, just everything you can wish for as a man looking for a woman. But, ever since she gave birth to Boruto, that's when I realized how we shouldn't have never happened. Of course, it would be a good thing rebuild my clan, but I didn't want it to happen with her.

Sakura nodded in understanding. He continued, "I mean, don't get me wrong. She is powerful and would be a great asset to my newly reformed clan, but I can't give her my heart, Sakura. My heart has always been… IT'S ALWAYS BEEN WITH YOU SAKURA!" Sakura was shocked, though she really didn't feel it. She's known this for a while now. She just thought that he'd grow out of it by now. "N- Naruto- "

"I know that I can't betray Hinata like that, but I don't know how that I can break it to her. I mean, I know that I've made up my mind about what I want to do. I can't do her like that. Sakura, you of ALL people know how I like to treat my friends. I can't stay with Hinata knowing that I don't truly love her in this way!" Sakura was shocked by his outburst. "Naruto, please, just calm down alright?" Naruto took in a couple of deep breaths, pacing back in forth. "Time's running out Sakura, I have to tell her soon!" Sakura grabbed him by the shoulders. "Listen to yourself! You can tell her… but not now! She is already going through a tough situation. I know Hinata, she already thinks that you are cheating on her with me!"

"I know that but… WAIT WHAT?" Naruto was shocked. "Yeah. Anyone can see it. She's been glaring at me ever since I arrived at the Ramen shop for lunch." Naruto nodded and gave her a mischievous grin, "Well Sakura- chan, you were wearing quite an attractive outfit that day." This earned him a good sucker punch to the gut. "You… perv!" Sakura growled, tails swishing around her and her pink fuzzy fox ears poking out from the top of her head. Naruto giggled, wiping the blood from his mouth, "So you wanna play dirty Sakura? Well, two can play at that game!" Naruto tackled Sakura to the grown and pinned her down with his own chakra tails. His eyes were glowing red and his whisker marks had darkened. They growled at each other for a few minutes and they began wrestling. She wrapped her tail around his neck and pushed him to the ground.

Kurama chuckled, **"Feisty, just the way I like her."** Naruto grunted, "You pervert. I hate that I share a mind with you! Those thoughts of yours are WAY worst than the ones I had as a teen." Kurama laughed even harder, **"Yeah, you're right, they 'were'. But as you said, she was smoking hot in those short shorts and tank top. Since you had your 'experience', yours have been becoming EXTREMELY gruesome and just down right dirty" **Naruto blushed so red that it would've made Hinata proud. "You dirty fox!" Naruto grumbled. To his surprise, Sakura giggled, "Aw! You are so adorable!" She poked his nose and she let him go. "So, when are you going to let 'hubby' out?" Kurama blushed. Naruto decided to play along with 'Mariko'. Naruto gave her a pervertish grin and cornered the vixen in the corner of the railing. "Well, I wouldn't know Mariko? He's your 'hubby'." Naruto wriggled her eyebrows to tease her. Mariko growled and pinned him down. "Hmm, you're cute. Now wonder Sakura was head over heels for you. You've been infesting my jailor's dreams since I bet before I was placed in her." Naruto's eyes widened at this, "What!?" Before he could ask more questions though, Mariko stumbled back, and Sakura slowly gained control over her body again. Naruto was again, shocked. But Sakura was still red with anger though.

"What exactly did she tell you?" Sakura asked in a creepily calm voice, which Naruto knew immediately was fake. Him being the idiot he is, decided to tease her about it. "Well, just the fact that she was really desperate on getting with her 'hubby'. She also reviled that a beautiful pink haired someone has been having 'wet dreams' about a certain soon to be hokage." Naruto teasingly licked his lips at the woman before him and slowly walked towards her in a predatory way that could make Tsunade shiver. Naruto ran a finger under her chin to force her to look up at him. "If you wanted me so badly," He paused to kiss her cheek. "You could've just asked for it baby, this Uzumaki got a few tricks up his sleeves that will make you- "

"SHAAANAAROOOO!" Sakura shouted as she punched him all the way up past the clouds with a powerful upper cut that ended in him plunging back down on his head. "YOU PERV!" Sakura walked over her and grabbed Naruto by the collar. "W-WHA- WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! JUST WHAT DIRTY TRICK ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!" Naruto couldn't take her seriously. She was so adorable and in some way, HOT, when she was angry. His eyes dazed off in the beauty of her physical features. Damn it! Why was she so fine?! He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, only to make her blush worse. "N- Na- Narutoooo!" Sakura wined.

Naruto laughed and decided to stop teasing her. "Okay, okay Sakura- chan. I will stop teasing you. Be warned though, this will happen often. I must say, you've grown extremely soft." He chuckled at her blush and threw her over his shoulders, careful not to grab her butt. Instead, he kept her in place by her thighs and teleported them back to her room. He laid her down on the bed. When he looked at her emerald eyes and saw how the moon light reflected off her skin, it took all of his and Kurama's will not to take her right then and there. She wished him good night and he left the room wishing her sweet dreams.

"One day," He started, "One day, you will be mine, Sakura- chan. That's a promise that I have never given up on, even if Hinata has nudged her way in my heart somehow, my heart will always have a leash that belongs to your being." Naruto whispered his oath to himself as he watched Sakura fall asleep. He turned to see Boruto and Sarada entering the house. "Where have you two been?"

"Oh, Naruto, your son was just treating me to Ramen. Things got a little too much for us so we just decided to get a bite." Sarada walked to her room and got ready for bed before stopping to ask, "Oh, is mom okay? I heard that you were 'treating her well comfort' tonight on the Hokage monuments." Boruto agreed. "Yeah, I bet that she will sleep well tonight!" Naruto turned extremely red and was about to lash out them both before they ran away giggling into their own rooms. He sighed and went to bed himself, muttering something incoherent while tucking in with his 'girlfriend' Hinata.

* * *

**AN: Yeah, I wasn't kidding when I said I was doing some female character development. So truth is out, Sakura agreed to dump Sasuke. Sakura is one of my favorite female characters in Naruto. My fav when it comes to a real ninja woman though, is TenTen. She doesn't go head over heels for no dude. She's the real kunoichi PERIOD! Yeah and things got heated up in this chapter and I came to my senses and stopped it before things got to fast. And I've been hearing that lemons were not allowed on this site, and I need explanations because clearly, there are thousands of users on here that doesn't get reported or whatever. Anyways, yeah. Hinata will grow better too (thank god, someone has to do it and kudos to you all who doesn't support unmoving characters). Sooooo, this was like a filler chapter because I didn't want to get right in to the process, which should be in the next chapter. I would've put this little note at the beginning, but then some of yall lazy readers, which I am one myself, would have probably skipped it. But some of this will be included in the next chapter so its a filler cannon? What ever, hope you enjoyed and peace out!**

**P.S: Sorry for the ranting at the beginning. However, if you agree with my reasoning, please help me get this out to more reviewers and other nice people that support NaruSaku if it's not a waste of your time. Also, I changed the rating unless yall want to see a potential lemon in future chapters, this book may be long sooo, yeah. Bye!**


	7. Chapter 7: Secret of the Byakugo

**See end for notes!**

It has been about 3 weeks since Sakura's last meeting with Killer Bee and the others. Since then, there had been smaller meetings including only Sakura, Naruto, and Killer Bee. The smaller meetings has only been mostly about how they were doing with their chakra reserving and their plans for the jutsu to take place. Sakura still thought that they should try removing it instead. Naruto strongly disagreed, since his father died doing it to him, while Killer Bee just sat back amused by their 'husband and wife like' bickering.

"Naruto! Are you nuts?! You can't just commit suicide for me when the entire 5 nations can be at risk!" Sakura was on the verge of pulverizing the blonde 6 feet deep for being a baka. "Besides, you have a- "

"Don't… finish… that sentence!" Again with his family, he didn't need them coming up at this moment. "Besides, neither one of them know any sealing techniques to get this done!" Killer Bee saw this as a personal moment and left without either of them knowing. They were at a cherry blossom park near the hokage's tower. Naruto would be ogling at Sakura had she not been acting impossible at the moment with the pink flower petals floating around her in a pink aura. The chakra was making the wind blow a bit harshly and the flower petals were surrounding her and tossing her hair every which way, and why does she look so beautiful?

Sakura scoffed, "And why not Naruto? They are your family for crying out loud! Boruto and Hinata needs you! You can't just give up your life for some… some stupid woman who's done nothing but hurt your feelings and what not all your life! How do you think their feeling right now!?"

"Probably not as bad as Sarada whose soon going to find out that her mother is a jinchuriki! Mariko can KILL you Sakura! And if she doesn't, what do you think the council is going to say about there being an extra jinchuriki walking among us?!" Do you NOT remember what was happening to me when I was younger?!"

"Well, Killer Bee said that he will help me after the process is over! You are not getting the point though! I get that you think your 'family' is a mistake, but you need to take a little bit more responsibility! You can't change the fact that you're a FATHER, Naruto!"

"Oh! Well I'm sorry, MOM! I didn't know that you were in control of my life. Besides, it's up to YOU to decide who I restore my clan with anyways! Why don't you go ahead and plan my forced wedding, my outfit for the rest of my life, oh and while you're at it, decide if I become the next hokage!"

Sakura then realized that she probably took things too far, but still, he needed to understand, "Naruto… I'm… I'm sorry okay, I didn't mean to… I didn't mean it like that, okay? But just think for a second. Your son is lucky to have you. You have the opportunity to give him something that you never had growing up. How would do you think he'd feel if you were to just walk out of his life like that? Sure, he probably hates you, but that's because you're not even trying, Naruto. At least pretend that you care. If not for Hinata, then care for Boruto." Naruto was silent. She was right about that. "And, Naruto, I know you more than anyone else, you LOVE Boruto. You are GREATFUL for him. But your love for Hinata, well… I don't have any experience with your love life other than you trying to put me on dates with you all the time.

Naruto laughed a bit at that, "Hey, those were romantic. Even if it was 'salty and unhealthy'." Sakura giggled, "Yeah, I guess, but I didn't think you meant for those to be… intimate. I mean, I knew you cared about me desperately. You made that clear. But I didn't think that your crush on me was serious. I always thought that your crush on me was part of your competition with Sasuke."

Naruto looked at her as if she had lost her mind, "Are you kidding me right now Sakura? Why would my love for you be a competition with Sasuke? I loved you for you yourself. I mean, sure, it may have seemed like that was the case when we were younger, but me making that promise to you, that should've changed your way of thinking. Like, why on Earth would I agree to go after Sasuke knowing that you loved him and not me? That was true love Sakura, because I wanted you to be happy even if it wasn't with me. How do I know what true love is, you may ask?" Naruto walked up to Sakura and held her hands, "Because you taught me, that true love is not always about relationships. True love can be tough, or it can run smoothly and calmly. Iruka- sensei, Kakashi- sensei, and Pervy Sage taught me that true love means making a sacrifice for the ones you care for."

Sakura blushed. She supposed he was right about that. She blushed in embarrassment for thinking that he was in love with her for some competition. "Naruto… I am SO sorry. I honestly didn't know that you actually felt that way about me. See, this is why I am not worthy of your life to be used as a sacrifice for me." Naruto laughed, "Like I said, you showed me an important lesson in my life, which makes you more than worthy." Sakura smirked, "But you do understand what I was trying to tell you right? Your family needs you more than I do. Go to them and be a father. You don't have to 'care' for Hinata, I mean that would be a plus too but- "

"Sakura- chan. There's something you need to know about me and Hinata." Sakura shook her head, while I was out yesterday, Neji told me about what was going on. I can't believe Hiashi would do such thing! He can't just force you two to get married, right? I mean, I'm sure Hinata sees the problem with this, right?" Naruto got quiet then. "Naruto?"

"Oh, well… I actually… I don't know how she feels about it. She never brought the topic up and if I asked her if she knew about a planned wedding, she'd act casual about it, so I guess she doesn't even know?" Sakura stared at him for a bit, looking for any signs of lying or insecurity. She found none, which was good because it meant he was trusting her and being honest with her. "I'd advise that you talk this over with her. There's nothing wrong with talking about marriage before engagement. Most couples do that anyways." Naruto groaned, "That's the problem Sakura, I don't know if I really want to marry her or not! I've known her for a while now. She's sweet, kind, and very pretty. But, I don't find myself to be attracted to her. I've been trying to grow accustomed to her, but it never works. I feel like the more I try to do that, the more I'd be ruining our 'friendship'. And yes, I said friendship because what we are going through now is not what I'd call a 'romantic' relationship."

Sakura nodded, "You two have been together for more than 12 years. If it's not working by now, though I'd hat to say this, you may just need to break it to her that your feelings for her is not as strong as hers are for you." Naruto nodded in agreement. This is why when it came to emotional issues, Sakura was always his number one candidate for a mentor. The mood was getting a little too dark, but he still needed to make one thing clear with her, "Thank you so much, Sakura- chan. I knew I could come to you for help with problems like these. And I am sorry about that argument earlier, but it would be better to seal Mariko in you instead of removing it. I don't know how I would end up if you were to go through what Gaara went through. I'd probably end up how Sasuke was." Sakura shook her head, "Fine! But if anything goes wrong, it's your fault. Bee and Lady Tsunade has made it clear that you will be responsible for me, though I am NOT allowing it!"

Naruto smirked for the first time that evening. Mission complete: Get Naruto to stop brooding! "Now, since we got everything dissolved, do you wanna treat me for some ramen?" Naruto glared at the pinkett. He knew her scheme. She chose his side of an argument, gave him much needed support on serious issues in his personal life, and acted all sweet in the end. If he hadn't known her as good as he did, he wouldn't have known that her 'dirty girl' side didn't come from Mariko. "You dirty little vixen," Naruto growled. Sakura gave a cute innocent giggle, "Aw man! I was expecting you to be dense and just go along with it! You weren't supposed to catch on!" Sakura shouted playfully. Naruto shook his head, "I figured out your scheme when YOU asked ME out on a date, that's not the real you, but if you're willing to do this more often then I like this side of you." Naruto wriggled his eyebrows at her, causing her to blush more than she was from what he said earlier. "NAARRUUTOOO!" Sakura growled at him and tackled him to the ground.

Killer Bee came back to see how things were going. He stopped when he saw the two wrestling on the ground, looking like little kids. He shook his head at the sight. "Yo, Octo, what are we going to do with these two buffoons?" The eight- tailed beast shook his own head, "I don't know Bee, I'd say it's cute, but… it may turn into something worse than just playing if he touches her the wrong way." Bee agreed and made a dramatic cough to get their attention. "Well, I am glad to see you two have worked out your differences. But I think it's time you two go rest now, we have a big day tomorrow. And for kami's sake, can you two please get a room?! This is just illegal, and you guys should be arrested for showing a bit TOO much affection. Flirt somewhere else!" Naruto looked down to see what Bee was talking about. He immediately turned beet red. He was laying between Sakura's legs and had his knees holding her legs up. Both their hands were around the other's neck and it looked like they were about to 'get it on'.

Sakura slapped Naruto to make him fly back into a tree. "Naruto! You pervert! Why were you on me like that?!" Sakura was beet red and had her legs pinned together as if her life was depending on it. Naruto grunted and pulled his head out of the tree while rubbing the lump on his head. "Sakura- chan! You had your legs wrapped around me! You were just as bad as I was," Naruto argued back. Sakura huffed and got up. Naruto followed her out of the garden and glared at Killer Bee. "You pervert! Why would you bring that up? We were not 'making love', we were fighting because… flirting on her." Bee smirked, "And I'm the perv, your flirting set this whole issue off. Now go find your 'mate' and go get rest. We have a big day tomorrow." Naruto mumbled something incoherent and ran off to find Sakura.

Sakura was waiting for him at the Ramen Shop. When Naruto caught up with her, she was in conversation with Ichiraku's daughter. "Will that be all?" Ayame asked. Sakura nodded her head and she left off to the back to prepare their meal. Naruto glared at Sakura, already assuming what she ordered for him. "Sakura, I swear, if you ordered me that vegetarian crap I will dump it all on your head and then feed it to you!" Sakura giggled, "You wouldn't dare! And yes, I have ordered you the vegetarian ramen. But, I also ordered Pork Ramen as well. If you want me to pay, you better eat every last drop of that vegetarian ramen!" Naruto gave her a mischievous smile, "And that's where you lose, I was buying anyways. I DON'T have to eat it." Sakura growled, "Fine! You win. But, if you want to go on more 'dates' with me, you HAVE to eat ALL of it." She knew she won that battle, Naruto couldn't resist her. Naruto dropped his head in defeat, "Fine! But if you want me to help you after the sealing, you have to eat 3 bowls of Pork Ramen!" Two could play at that game. He knew what Sakura was doing.

Sakura shrugged, "Fine! Challenge accepted." They both nodded to Ayame and began to eat.

~~X~~

Naruto carried a stuffed pinkett home. He carried Sakura bridal style so as not to upset her stomach. When he got home, he saw Hinata was standing in the living room waiting on him. He nodded to her and put Sakura upstairs in her bed. When he returned, Hinata had her arms crossed across in front of her. "And where were you? You were supposed to be home over two hours ago," Hinata growled. Naruto replied in his most calm voice, "Sorry, Hinata- chan. Me and Sakura- chan got into an argument after training with Bee. We resolved it though, and I asked her out to some ramen. We got a bit carried away and made a bet, so that's why we were away so long. But don't worry, it's only 6 in the evening. It's not like we got here at 12 in the morning!" Naruto tried to give her an encouraging smile. Hinata wasn't buying it though. "Naruto- kun… do you know how it makes a woman feel when her husband… er… boyfriend comes home later than what he said he was with another woman? It's not a good image."

Naruto rolled his eyes in disbelief. He was going to put his foot down right now, "Hinata! Do you honestly think that I was cheating on you?! I know it may be hard for you to believe that I wasn't because of my past affiliations with her, but can you please give me a break?" When Hinata didn't reply immediately, he put a hand up, "Never mind, I need to rest to prepare for the sealing process tomorrow." Hinata was going to speak up, but Naruto was already traveling up the stairs. She followed him of course. She supposed that she would have to at least TRY to understand their situation here. Sakura has been on of the few people that have grown up with Naruto. Though she didn't wanna admit it, Sakura had already completed and still was going through with Hinata's own wish: To always be by Naruto's side.

"I'm sorry, Naruto- kun. It is my place to worry about your where- abouts, but perhaps maybe I've taken it too far," Hinata said. She was lying to herself. Family time has improved a bit since Sakura's return, but the amount of time he spends with the woman is a bit too much for a regular 'friendship'. Naruto shook his head, "It's okay Hinata. I appreciate your care for me, but it would be helpful if you just back off a bit. Me and Sakura have been doing the same things we'd usually do as friends and nothing more. I'd never cheat on you like that." His response was… some what true. Though it was clear that Naruto's buried feelings for the pinkett had once again resurfaced, he would never 'cheat' on Hinata. Though deep down, he wondered if it was considered cheating if a man was in a relationship with a woman, but was growing deep feelings for another? He cleared his mind from his thoughts and focused on the task at hand, "Anyways, I really need to get some rest. Anything can happen tomorrow, and I need to be prepared for the worst."

Hinata nodded in agreement, "Yes, but please don't push yourself to hard. That could end up bad in a process like this." Naruto nodded his head and drifted off to sleep. Hinata knocked out a few minutes after he fell asleep, but before she did, she closed her eyes thinking:

"Each day, I am losing Naruto to Sakura. I can feel it."

~~~X~~~

Sakura was the first to awake the next morning. "Today's the day…" Sakura thought as she climbed out of bed. After getting dressed in her regular attire (the same outfit she wears in Boruto), she went to Sarada's room to wake her up. She was starting her first day at the Academy as a genin like Boruto. She was tested a little bit after they returned to the village and she passed the graduation exams. Sarada slowly opened her eyes, "Mom? Shouldn't you be gone already?" Sakura shook her head, "No, I don't leave until 9. But, you need to get ready for school." Sarada grumbled and marched all the way to her guest bathroom. "And drop the attitude! You're going to love it there, I promise!" Sakura called out. She heard a knock at her door and went to open it to find Boruto standing there. "Is Sarada ready? Konohamaru going to be pretty pissed if we keep him waiting. We are to meet him in about 30 minutes." Sakura was impressed at how responsible Boruto was acting. Must've picked that up from his mother.

Sarada appeared out of the bathroom ready to go. Sakura walked them downstairs and prepared their lunch boxes and sent them out the door, watching them until they were out of sight. Naruto then came down the stairs looking like he got no sleep at all. He only wore sweat pants, showing off his toned washboard abs. Sakura blushed a bit and tried to cover her face. She was only in a lavender nightgown with a cardigan that had white printed flowers all around it. Naruto walked right past her and went straight for the kitchen. He grabbed a carton of milk and gulped it down, with some of it missing his mouth. If Sakura wasn't as mature as she was, she would've pulled a 'Hinata' right there on the spot.

"Thanks for getting the kids up. I was going to, but I fell back asleep. I couldn't really sleep last night at all." Sakura's oncoming nose bleed subsided and her blushed face turned to on of concern. "Why couldn't you get any sleep?" Sakura walked up to him and placed the back of her hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling sick?" Naruto shook his head, "No, but I'm scared Sakura," he paused to hold her hands. Sakura was used to knowing the fact that Naruto would drop the honorific off her name when he was being serious. "What if something goes wrong? What if we can't contain Mariko? What… What if… I lose you?" Sakura stared at him in disbelief. "Naruto. Are you kidding me? Am I even speaking to Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze right now? Since when have you started doubting yourself this badly?"

Naruto didn't answer immediately, but when he did, Sakura's heart shattered. "I guess it started the day I first laid eyes on you. The day that I swore an oath to protect you. The day… that I realize that I could lose one of my closets friends forever." Sakura saw Naruto's eyes lose its lively cerulean color and was replaced with a dull blue. She had to fix him immediately. Sure, it was true. The process could result in failure and she could die. But sulking over that idea would only raise the chances of that happening because it would get in the way as a distraction. "Naruto, look at me," Sakura demanded in her mother tone. Naruto obeyed, giving her his full attention. It hurt her to see his eye dull and sad. But she was going to change that now.

"We are ninja, Naruto. There is no guarantee that we will come back from the field alive. You and I both know this. But right now," She said, squeezing his hands to emphasize her point. "We don't have time to let our emotions get in the way. This is not just for my sake, Naruto, but for the village as well! If you let the thought of losing me cross your mind even for a second during the sealing, who knows what can happen?! I could die, you could die, hell, the whole village could be destroyed. And it would all be because you let your feelings got in the way of what's really important. I'm not saying that if everything goes as planned, we will be living in euphoria for the rest of our lives, because there will still be a chance that this will go wrong. But that is not an excuse to give up all hope. That is not an excuse to just give up your own life for someone you love. No, it is an excuse to give it your all and hope for the best!"

Naruto was staring at her in shock! Again, the woman was full of surprises. What neither of them noticed though, was a Hyuga heiress was listening in on them from upstairs. "Remember the 4th Great Ninja War? I did something that night out of love for our village and out of love for you." Sakura paused, remembering that Naruto never found out why he survived as long as he did after kyuubi was extracted from him. He only knew that his father had to seal the other half of Kurama inside of him. "After the kyuubi was extracted from you, you fainted. Me and Gaara was able to catch you and transport you back to your father. I checked your pulse and your heart was barely beating…" Sakura paused, knowing what came next would either spark a good or bad reaction out of Naruto. But mainly, she stopped because she took notice of Hinata coming down the stairs to start preparing breakfast. Both of them pretended not to notice her because it would become awkward with what Sakura was going to say, but she continued anyways.

"I… I was losing you quickly. Gaara said that before your half was pulled into the statue, he was told by him that the only way to save you was to get the other half sealed into you. But you weren't going to make it in time, so I had to take a few matters in my own hand." Naruto was now curious, "Sakura? You've never told me this before. What did you do?" Part of him was mad that whatever she was about to tell him, probably should've been told to him a long time ago. But after seeing a few tears come down Sakura's face, he dropped all emotions of anger towards to her and replaced it with concern. He squeezed her hand as she continued. "I tried using medical ninjutsu to reverse the effects of the yang- half extraction, but it wasn't working. I… I had to use another procedure." Sakura took in a deep breath, she was using this scenario as to help Naruto over- come his nervousness. Now wasn't the time to be stalling, but it wasn't helping that Hinata was now openly paying attention to their conversation.

"I had to cut open your chest and massage your heart in order to keep the blood flow going in your heart, while giving you CPR at the same time." Naruto and Hinata both gave an audible gasp. Sakura continued, "But it wasn't just for the sake of me not knowing how I'd live without you being there to support me. I knew that if I hadn't done what I did, we wouldn't have won the war. My worries only got worse when you fought Sasuke. I was scared that your heart would stop beating again. But that's not the point. I did what I had to do to protect you!"

Hinata was shocked. She kissed Naruto?! "Sakura- chan… you did this?" Sakura nodded, never letting here eyes fall from Naruto's. "Yes, I did. And I don't regret it either," She said with a smile. "Now let's get going before Mariko takes over my soul, eh?" Naruto was blushing like mad, "W- wha- what do you mean by n- not re- regretting it?" Sakura laughed at his cute embarrassment. "I mean that I am happy I kept you alive! Wait… you don't possibly think I was talking about kissing you?" Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Uh… kind of, yeah." Sakura shook her head, "You are such a baka. Now come on, we gotta get going. Captain Yamato and the others should be their!" Sakura grabbed Naruto by the ear and dragged him out the house. Hinata followed suit. SHE KISSED NARUTO! Hinata was going to have to do something.

~~~x~~~

Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata all showed up to the spot where the sealing was to take place. Tsunade had picked out a cherry blossom forest somewhere near the edge of the village. The spot wasn't used much, so she thought it would be perfect. The people who were there was Kakashi, Yamato, Tsunade, Killer Bee, and Ino. Sakura's eyes lit up when she saw her best friend. "Ino!" They ran to each other and embraced each other in a huge hug. "I missed you forehead! And OMG look at you! Looking all fine and stuff! I've been hearing a bunch of dudes talk about you." Sakura growled at her platinum blonde friend, "Ino!" Ino waved her hands defensively and Naruto walked up behind the pinkett, "It's time to start now."

Killer Bee cleared his throat, "Okay, so here's the plan: Naruto, you are responsible for watching over Sakura while she is unconscious. You will enter her mind and help her out with the sealing process. Yamato, you are responsible for making sure that none of their chakra goes out of control. Tsunade, if anything goes wrong, we need you to handle it with your medical ninjutsu. Ino, you will need to use your mind jutsu to give us intel on what's going on in there. Kakashi, you are here for support. Theses are your students and it would be easier for them to come to you for support after the process is done. Also, if we fail to contain their chakra, you will be needed for help with that as well."

Everyone nodded. Naruto walked Sakura out into a clearing area of the forest. She sat down and Naruto stood beside her, waiting for Kurama to notify him that she is in need of help. Ino stood a safe distance in front of Sakura with her hand sign ready. Yamato was sitting beside Ino and he performed a jutsu that caused wood to form around them in a top- open cage like form. There were no spikes coming out form the inside because neither of them lost control yet. Bee, Tsunade and Kakashi were on standby.

Naruto gave her a nervous look. Sakura scoffed, "Come on Naruto. I'm should be the one that's nervous. Here." Naruto accepted her hand and sat down beside her. Sakura decided to further tease him, since it was his fault, they were doing this solution. "Besides, if anything goes wrong, just remember that you made your precious, sweet, and beautiful Sakura- chan become a jinchuriki instead of just taking the chakra out of me." Naruto growled viciously at her and she just laughed. "You know, you're kind of cute when you're mad."

"Vixen!"

"That's what I am."

Naruto huffed and looked away from her. He blushed when he heard Ino laughing in the distance in front of him, "Aw! You two will forever be cute! You act like husband and wife!" The rest chuckled and agreed with Ino. Hinata just turned red with anger, though no one noticed, except Kakashi. He knew how hard she worked to get with Naruto. But, in his opinion and based on his analysis and experience with Naruto's personal life, he wasn't to 'excited' about those two being together. If he hadn't known better, he'd say the entire village felt that way. After Sakura returned to the village, the villagers automatically assumed that they were together, just because of their past affiliations. After Pein's attack and everyone saw Sakura hug Naruto, they got used to seeing her throw him around when he did something immature.

Sakura calmed her mind and relaxed. She tightened her grip on Naruto's hand for reassurance and went into Mariko's chamber. "It's starting," Yamato stated, and everyone zeroed their focus in on the two 'jinchuriki'.

~~~X~~~

When Sakura opened her eyes, she was face to face with pearly white bars. She felt water around her feet and noticed that the area she was standing in was covered with enough water to stop at her ankles. She walked up to the cage, already knowing who was inside because of what Naruto told her about Kurama's cage. "Mariko! I know you're in there," Sakura called out. She heard feminine chuckling, "So, you really are a clever girl. I had a feeling you were." Sakura saw two red eyes looking at her. She shuddered and stumbled backwards but kept her footing. "Y- you know me?" She stuttered.

Mariko rolled her eyes. "Of course I do, duh! And, I come from Kurama, and he is inside Naruto. So yeah, I know you." Sakura continued to study the vixen. She was pink and had a pink curl of fur hanging over her right eye that she assumed was supposed to be like a bang. Though she was sitting, Sakura could tell that if Mariko was standing, she'd be almost as tall as Kurama. She had wide hips and her claws were painted red. Wait... jinchuriki got their nails done?

"You like what you see? Anyways, I know why you're here. You've come to control my powers so that you can seal me in here eh?" Sakura nodded and could hear the frustration in her voice. "I don't like the idea either. I wanted you to be out of me so that the councils won't be on Konahagakure about having two tailed beasts. Naruto, as stubborn as he is joyful, didn't agree and though it'd be a good idea to just seal you in me." Mariko nodded, "He's right you know. If I were to be removed from you, that would surely kill you. But this may do the same, it's just a lower chance of that happening than what you were planning to do. But, in order for you to be able to keep me, you have to earn it. And it won't be easy. You have to defeat me in order for that to happen.

Sakura stared at her in shock, "Defeat you? That's impossible!" Mariko smirked, "That's the point! I don't wanna stay in here with you! YOU LET HUBBY GET AWAY TO SOME CREEPY CHICK THAT'S OVERLY OBSESED WITH HIM!" Mariko pouted. Sakura immediately knew who she was talking about. Mariko continued, "Sure, she was always sweet to Naruto, but you were there with him from the start and was the first female he cared about in his life. WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING CHASING AFTER THAT UCHIHA! NARUTO WAS THERE FOR YOU FROM THE START!" Sakura felt extremely guilty, "I know. I was young and just saw Sasuke as a cool guy and I was attracted to him, but I realized my feelings for him after he returned from his training with Jariah, but I knew I wasn't good for him so I pushed Hinata to him. She deserved Naruto more than anyone else."

Mariko scoffed, "And what about you? Do you really hate yourself that much?" Sakura smiled and shook her head, "No, but I wanted Naruto to experience love with someone who was gentle. I couldn't do that without hitting him every time he did something stupid. Sure, I did gain feelings for him, and those feelings just resurfaced when I came back to the village. We got into an argument before I left the village though, and that was part of the reason I left. He didn't want Hinata. He said he'd give up his dreams of becoming hokage if it meant he'd have me. I knew that and I couldn't do it to him, not after he tried so hard. I rejected him one last time and left with Sasuke."

Mariko rolled her eyes, "So stupid! You loved him, he loved you, you both supported each other, you knew each other for years! You both went through trials and tribulations, near death experiences, and happy moments together! Why end it?!" Mariko was frustrated. How could this girl be so stupid? "Anyways, I won't let you take my power unless you get my hubby back! I won't even let you fight me unless you can promise me that!" Sakura furrowed her brows in anger, "I WILL NOT DO THAT! HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND AND A CHILD!"

"Yeah! And that child does not have Kurama's powers. If you have one with Naruto, both mine and Kurama's chakra will go into the child and he can be powerful!"

"What does that have to do with anything! I just want the best for Naruto and if it means supporting his stupid decision to seal your ungrateful behind in me, then so be it! I will fight you and I will win, even if I die in the process." Mariko liked the girl's attitude and accepted her challenge, though she was still angry at her for letting her 'hubby' go. "Fine!" Mariko busted down the cage, it wasn't holding her back anyways because there was no seal there. She lunged at Sakura, and she easily dodged her attack. Sakura activated chakra in her fist and punched the ground, causing the ground to break under Mariko. Using it as a distraction, Sakura punched the ground again and cause a gigantic boulder to come up and she punched it at Mariko, successfully landing right on her head.

"Your good! But not good enough!" Mariko yelled. She started spitting huge fire balls at Sakura and while she was running, Mariko ran towards her and smacked her with one of her tails. She ran towards where Sakura landed. Right when she was about to slash her face. She winced in pain as one of her tails was damaged from a paper bomb. Sakura used her fist and punched Mariko's snout down into the ground and used a wire to tie her tails together. Mariko was not that easy to handle though. She burst out of the wire and quickly turned around to slash her claw across Sakura's chest, sending her flying back all the way to the other side of the chamber.

~~X~~

"Sakura!" Naruto called out. She was unconscious, but they could see through her facial expressions that she was concentrating. She gave a loud cry of pain and unconsciously held her chest. "Ino! What's going on!?" Kakashi asked. Ino concentrated, "She's… She's fighting Mariko! She just got sliced across her chest. She is suffering from severe bleeding." Tsunade looked over at Sakura, "We can see that." Sakura had huge claw marks across her chest. Tsunade ran towards Sakura and immediately started healing her. Naruto panicked. **"She might lose and if she does, Mariko will kill her! You need to go in there and help her now!"** Naruto nodded and informed the others about what Kurama told him to do. "Be careful!" Hinata called out. He nodded and closed his eyes to enter Mariko's chamber.

~~~X~~~

Sakura slowly sat up and held her chest. She could've sworn she was just slashed across the chest. It was healing? But she didn't unleash her Byakugo, yet. She dodged Mariko's next attack and landed another chakra activated punch on her snout. "OKAY! YOU ARE NOT PLAYING FAIR!" Sakura smirked, "You nearly killed me! I have every right to punch that stupid snout of yours!" Mariko growled and spit a tailed beast bomb at her. That should shut 'er up!

Sakura was about to dodge, until she felt a gust of wind appear in front of her. She heard a loud scream from Mariko and looked up. There he was, her blonde friend who was as bright as the sun itself. In all his glory, Naruto Uzumaki was standing in front of her in Bijuu mode. He immediately turned it off though and turned towards Sakura. "Are you okay? What did she do to you?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Why are you here?" Naruto's eyes were watery. "Naruto..."

"I thought I lost you. I'm here now. I will defeat her…"

"No!" Sakura couldn't exactly say she didn't see this coming. She knew Naruto would show up and try to stop her. "I can defeat her! I am strong too you know." Naruto nodded his head, "Yeah, I can tell by the how red her snout is. But I want to help you. I didn't defeat Kurama all by myself." Sakura agreed, "Okay, fine! But do not get in my way. Naruto smirked, "You don't gotta tell me twice." Sakura charged at Mariko and landed a punch in her gut. Mariko shot fireballs at both of them and one hit Sakura. "Sakura- chan!" Sakura recovered and saw Mariko charging towards Naruto. **"Oh crap!" **Kurama exclaimed. "YOU HAVE MY HUBBY!" Mariko growled as she plunged one of her claws in Naruto's chest. Sakura saw this and felt an extreme amount of chakra rush through her. Sakura let out a scream of agonizing pain and despair as she dropped to her knees. Her diamond had spreaded into its usual pattern around her whole body. But this transformation was different. Sakura has never felt this strong with her Byakugo activated. Her eyes went blank white and started to glow. Her hair flew around like crazy and wind was picking up everywhere. Naruto looked up at his pink- haired friend and gasped in both shock and pain. He had never seen a Byakugo on this level.

"Sa- Sakura- chan?" Sakura turned her head to him and gasped. She quickly bit her finger, did a few hand signs, and slammed her palm against the ground. A miniature version of Katsuyu appeared and quickly slithered her way towards Naruto to start healing him. Sakura then turned her attention to Mariko with the most venomous glare she could ever give, which kind of made Naruto crap himself. "Oh! Is this a new power up? No worries, you're going to die here anyways!" Mariko then charged towards Sakura, causing Naruto to yell out in warning. They were going back and forth for a long while.

~~~X~~~

Ino gasped and her eyes widened in shock. "Wha- What is this… this power?" Tsunade and Kakashi looked at the blonde ponytail wearing girl in worry. "What do you mean? What's going on?!" Yamato asked. Ino shuddered, "I don't know! She was fighting Mariko, then Naruto appeared to help her. They were attacking the vixen together, until she pierced Naruto through the chest with one of her tails," Everyone gasped while Hinata broke out into a panic. "What do we do?! Naruto's in trouble- "

"Let Ino finish!" Bee yelled. He was getting more and more frustrated with all the questions the Hyuga heiress kept asking by the second. Ino continued, "Ahem, anyways, Sakura saw this and I think that's how she unleashed her powers. She summoned Katsuyu to heal him, so he'll be fine. Right now, Sakura and Mariko are fighting."

"Describe exactly how Sakura's Byakugo looks." Tsunade demanded. Ino nodded again and focused on her jutsu. "She has the usual markings on her body like the Byakugo does, but this time, her hair is flying around everywhere, and her eyes are blank white. She seems to have A LOT of strength. I think this is giving her the upper hand because she is winning against Mariko." Tsunade had a far away look on her face, "Oh crap! No, THIS CAN'T BE!" Everyone turned to look at the Hokage with a questioning look on their faces. Lady Tsunade continued, "That power she unleashed, it's a forbidden jutsu only known to be used by the very first users of the Byakugo and me myself. But if we, and by we I mean Naruto, don't stop her, SHE CAN DIE!" Now it was Ino's turn to panic, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN DIE!? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO SAKURA!?"

Tsunade shook her head, "Sakura has unleashed the Ultimate Byakugo." Everyone gasped. They had no idea what it was, but they knew it had to be serious if the jutsu user can die after the jutsu subsides. "Let me explain," Tsunade started. "The Ultimate Byakugo is a level higher than the original Byakugo. The jutsu allows the caster to have unlimited chakra, while using whatever they had left as well. Their strength increases to unimaginable levels, and they become outright stamina freaks. The jutsu is usually activated by EXTREMELY harsh training, but apparently, Sakura has unleashed it the same way I did: Emotionally. She unleashed it based on the thought that Naruto could actually be dead. However, when the caster's chakra runs out, that's when the jutsu is over and the caster usually dies."

Ino panicked so bad that she nearly gave herself a heart attack, "OMG! OMG! WHAT DO WE DO!? I'M FREAKING OUT!" Kakashi had a worried look on his face and turned towards Tsunade, "We need a solution, hokage- sama!" Tsunade shook her head, tears forming at the corners of her eyes, "Unless Ino can find a way to get into Naruto's mind and warn him to try to calm her down, we can't do anything! Only way I survived is because Shizune was there beside me. When Jariah almost died in his fight against Pein, I went into an emotional break down and I unleashed the power myself. If it had not been for Shizune notifying me that he was alive and well in another village, you might not have had your 5th hokage standing before you today!"

"I think I can do it!" Ino called out. Yamato turned to her in panic, "You can't possibly think that is possible- "

"My best friends are in danger! If I don't do anything about it, knowing that there was at least a possibility that I could've tried, I would never forgive myself!" Ino yelled back. Tsunade turned to the Yamanaka with a sympathetic look on her face, "You are almost out of chakra, if you try it, you may die. However, I think that I can lend you some chakra through my Byakugo- "Everyone paused to see Sakura's Ultimate Byakugo start to form on her unconscious form and a look of horror on Naruto's face. "We gotta hurry! Ino, get ready!" The blonde Yamanaka nodded and focused on finding Naruto in Mariko's chamber.

~~X~~

Naruto heard a feminine voice calling out to him. He focused his ears on it and noticed that it was Ino's. _"Naruto! This is me, Ino. I can't stay here for long, so I need you to listen okay! Sakura is going to die if you don't get her to calm down. She has unleashed a powerful jutsu called the Ultimate Byakugo, I will explain the rest too you if you can make it out of there. GOOD LUCK AND BE SAFE! PROTECT SAKURA LIKE I KNOW YOU WOULD!" _Naruto nodded, "I will, I will protect her with my life!" Naruto yelled. He gently placed Katsuyu off of his chest and slowly rose up. "You're healing is complete, please protect Sakura- chan!" Katsuyu said before she dispersed. Naruto summoned thousands of shadow clones. The shadow clones all created a Rasengan in their hands while the real one ran towards Sakura. Thank Kami Mariko was out for the count, for now.

"Sakura- chan!" Naruto called out. Said woman looked his way and her eyes went soft for a moment. "Naruto?" He embraced Sakura in a tight hug. He let their knees go weak and they both fell to the floor. "You have to calm down right now! Ino told me that Lady Tsunade said you unleashed a new power, but if you don't end this now, it can kill you," Naruto cried. Sakura was shocked, "I have to defeat Mariko! I might need this power- "

Naruto grabbed her by the shoulders, "Are you listening to yourself!? That is why I am here to help you!"

"So you don't believe in me?"

"NO! Of course I believe in you! But if anything happens to you while I am here to help you, it'd be the heaviest burden that you'd place on my life! And guess what, IT WOULD BE PERMANENT!" Sakura gasped and looked down, "I know… but, what if… what if something happens to you as well? You'd also place a burden on me too." Naruto softened up and hugged her again, "That's why we do this together. Come on!" Naruto went into 6th path sage mode and held her hand. "I used this same trick with Hinata, use your regular Byakugo and pour chakra in your fists." Sakura willed herself to calm down and did as she was told.

Together, Naruto and Sakura charged towards Mariko, Naruto with his Rasengan and Sakura with her overpowered fists. Mariko was pounded hard into the ground and she dispersed into a huge cloud of pink chakra. Sakura was panting a lot and she looked at Naruto with one eye closed. "We did it!" She breathed. Naruto nodded and looked towards the chakra. It was coming towards Sakura and it went inside her chest. Sakura winced a little in pain and fell to the ground coughing up blood. Naruto panicked, "We gotta get out of here!"

**AN: Okay, so by now, I'm pretty sure that based on the reviews, yall know that the characters in this story are OOC. And I would prefer it that way because it keeps the suspense going and it's not to predictable. Also, a lot of yall wanted me to make Sakura jump on Naruto for being a 'terrible' father, yall got it. Also, I am NOT good at writing fighting scenes.**

**Another thing. Please, I'm talking to yall flame throwers, please chill, okay? Everything will be solved. The story is moving slow. I am a beginner when it comes to story writing, so excuse by story telling. This idea came to me in a dream and I noticed I have not found any story with this plot. Sorry if the story sounds like its 'bashing' characters. Hinata is going to be somewhat of a yandere so if you don't like it. Peace!**

**And also, this story is off the top of my head. So if you continue to flame it, I WILL LAUGH MERCILESSLY AT YOUR STUPIDITY! Have a great day!😄😄😄😇😇😇**


	8. Chapter 9: Don't You Dare Leave Me!

**AN: So I changed the ratings just to be on the safe side. This chapter is a little raunchy. Anyways, I would like to thank all of you once again who supports my crappy story writing. The plot is cooling down a bit so don't expect to much 'action'. I will get back to it though. Currently making next chapter. Sorry for the slow updates. Research papers, hate em, or hate em, they are necessary to complete for success! LOL! Enjoy!**

Naruto awoke out of his unconsciousness and frantically shook Sakura, who was passed out on his shoulder with blood running down the corner of her mouth. "SAKURA- CHAN! SAKURA- CHAN! WAKE UP!" By now, everyone had run and circled around them. Naruto didn't like the extra attention, so he growled at all of them. "Stand back! We need to get her to the hospital now!" Tsunade nodded her head and held on to his shoulder. Naruto teleported them back to the hospital.

Hinata was still standing there dumbfounded. Sakura looked really messed up. Naruto was growling at them before he teleported back to the hospital. Ino was crying. Killer Bee was listening to Gyuki, giving him information on what happened in Mariko's temple (or whatever it's called). Yamato and Kakashi were discussing something about teaching Sakura new jutsus. She was pulled out of her trance when Kakashi cleared his throat. "I guess we all should just head on to the hospital to check on Sakura now. We are just sitting hear like terrible friends." Everyone nodded in agreement and headed to the hospital.

~~X~~

Naruto was pacing back and forth through the hospital. Boruto and Sarada was there with Inojin, Ino and Sai's son. Sarada was crying and the two boys were trying to comfort her. Naruto watched Tsunade and the other medical nin work on Sakura. She was in desperate need of rest and if they had got there any later than they did, she would be dead. Sakura was suffering from extreme chakra exhaustion. She was literally on her last breath of chakra. Naruto felt like he himself was on the brink of death. This was his idea after all, to seal Mariko inside of Sakura. "What have I done?," He asked in his head.

Tsunade is currently using a forbidden jutsu to save the pinkett. She studied Lady Chiyo's life transfer jutsu and perfected it so that death wouldn't be the outcome of the caster. However, performing the jutsu can cause the caster to suffer from chakra exhaustion themselves. Tsunade immediately shut down Naruto's idea of using his chakra in the jutsu because doing so could put more of Kurama's chakra in Sakura and it could possibly kill her. She decided to use her very own since she was much better at controlling her own chakra flow.

Boruto looked at his father and felt something akin to pity in his heart. He had never seen his father look the way he did. He looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown, and then have a heart attack. Boruto, for once in a long time, decided to talk to his father, leaving Inojin to do some type of emotional talk that he learned from his father's books.

"Hey dad." He started, trying to get his uneasy attention.

"Boruto.."

"Is she gonna be okay?" Boruto was a bit worried about the pinkett. He even started to grow fond of her.

"She's… I don't know. She's like a sister to me, and a… never mind, but I'd be damned if I let her die from a decision that I made!" Naruto then began to cry. He dropped to his knees to the floor. "In…I..in case something goes wrong, I want to make things right."

Boruto was confused now, "Dad, what are you- "

"Boruto, please listen carefully! I am sorry for being a TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD father. I'm just going to be honest with you. I love you. I truly do, and I am glad to be able to pass on my heritage of both the Uzumaki and Namikaze clan. But…you… you were just… unexpected. I love you dearly, it's just that I think I would've waited a little longer to have you."

Boruto was lost, "If you truly love me, then why haven't you been home when we wanted you there? Why do you always find excuses to leave the house when we are about to do something together as a family?!" Naruto smiled a bit. Yes, he wanted Boruto to let out his anger. His plan was falling into action. "That will change. Sakura helped me realize that YOU are my family. YOU are a descendant of my clan, both Uzumaki and the Namikaze. YOU are my son. And I am NOT proud of how I've been performing as a dad." Naruto gave his son a reassuring smile. Boruto was still confused, "But, dad, why did Ms. Haruno have to help you understand something so basic?"

"Because Sakura- chan is my best friend. I grew up without a father or a mother, you know? I only had my closest friends to fall back on. So all this father stuff is kind of new to me. That's why when I found out that your mother was pregnant with you, I guess I just freaked out, not knowing whether or not I was exactly qualified to be a dad. Sakura noticed this and talked some sense into me, so now, I'm gonna make things right." Boruto nodded in comprehension. If his dad grew up without an actual 'family', then it must've been hard for him to accept himself as a responsible parent. But still, shouldn't there be like some type of instinct that kicked in?

Tsunade busted through the doors of the operation room, breaking all of the visitors outside out of their trance. By now, Ino, Kakashi, Yamato, Hinata, and Killer Bee had caught up with them. "She's…. not going to make it…."

"WHAT!?," came everyone's reply. Sarada ran out the hospital and Boruto and Inojin went to find her. Kakashi and Yamato looked like they were cry, which rarely happened. Ino fainted, not believing the news. Hinata stood there, utterly shocked. But, a certain other blonde in the room looked like they were about to kill someone. Naruto was boiling with rage. "WHY!? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HER?" Naruto took it the hardest. He felt like if he had gone along with her idea to just take Mariko's chakra back, then they wouldn't be in this mess.

"Well, there's got to be something that can be done!" Killer Bee prodded in. He knew about Naruto's feelings towards the kunoichi and he felt bad for his fellow jinchuriki. Tsunade shook her head, "I've tried everything,but nothing works."

"I think that it's Mariko, she's got to be doing something to her to keep her from recovering. But if Sakura dies, Mariko dies too!" Kurama warned Naruto about his opinion and he nodded, "Lady Tsunade. Kurama thinks that it's Mariko's fault why she isn't recovering. But, we better act fast, because if Sakura dies, so does Mariko. Which I personally have no problem with." Naruto mumbled the last part under his breath. Tsunade had an idea pop up in her head. "Naruto, can you still access Mariko's chamber?" Naruto nodded after Kurama told him he could and went into the operating room. He looked over at Sakura's 'near death' form. She was paling, and he cringed when the diamond on her forehead disappeared. Tsunade almost broke down into tears. The diamond wasn't supposed to disappear from a Byakugo user, unless the user was dead. "Naruto! We don't have much time! Do it now!" Naruto freaked out and immediately sat down in the chair next to Sakura's bed and held her hand, preparing to enter Mariko's chamber once more.

~~~X~~~

"So, you defeated me, eh?"

Sakura groaned and sat up. The last thing she remembered was holding Naruto's hand after they defeated… her! She looked up at the grinning pink vixen in front of her. She was caged up because Sakura and Naruto were able to defeat her. Now, Mariko was at the mercy of Sakura, well, not completely. Mariko could still take over Sakura if her emotions got to heavy, like how Kurama used to do Naruto. "Why am I still here?!," Sakura strained her voice to try and yell at the vixen. Mariko chuckled, "Well, let's just say that I am keeping you here until you die."

"What?"

"You heard me! You failed to get my hubby back, so you must pay the consequences. I have blocked that Hokage's jutsu to transfer her life's energy. She just basically wasted chakra."

Sakura was now fuming with anger. How dare she make her mentor go through that. And how DARE she think that she can keep her own JAILOR in her little dungeon! She shakily, but slowly, rose to her feet to glare at the vixen. "Listen here you little bitch! I don't know WHO you think you are, but you better stop this right here and right now, or I'll- "

Mariko laughed humorously, "Or you'll what? Call your 'boyfriend' in here again? The real question is, who do you think YOU are?" Sakura grinned menacingly, "Who me? I am Sakura Haruno, top kunoichi of the village hidden in the leaves, top medical shinobi in the entire world, Slug Sannin, and an official jounin. It may not sound like much, but like everyone else from Konoha 11, with the exception of Lee, I don't come from a powerful clan. My clan are just regular civilians! But I had the will power to be where I'm standing today, and if you have a problem with me being your jailor, than you can kick rocks for all I care, but until greater decisions are to be made, you'll just have to deal with me."

Mariko growled and slashed her claws between the bars of the cage at Sakura, who didn't even flinch. "YOU, WHY YOU LITTLE- "

"Ah, ah, ah," Mariko and Sakura both turned their attention back towards the direction of the voice. Sakura gasped, "Naruto?"

Naruto smirked at her and then turned to glare at Mariko, "Let her out of here! NOW!" Mariko laughed haughtily, "Oh really? YOU telling ME what to do? See Sakura, why you gotta go bringing your 'boyfriend' into a grown woman's business?" Sakura glared at Mariko, "He is NOT my boyfriend! We are best friends and NOTHING more!"

Naruto didn't know why that sentence left a small pang in his heart, but he ignored it and focused at the problem at hand, "Yes, technically, I CAN tell you what to do. Since your 'hubby' is in me- "

"HUBBY? WHERE IS HE? LET ME SEE HIM!" The vixen was scratching her claws on the floor and stretching like a cat with her butt up in the air. Thank Kami she wasn't turned the other way around, they did NOT want to see any of that! "Tell her that I will talk to her if she lets Sakura go. I doubt she'll fall for it, but it's worth a shot?" Naruto nodded and told Mariko what Kurama told him to. She laughed, "You think I'll fall for that? Let me see him, wait, you feel that? Sakura is dying!" The vixen laughed evilly and rolled around on the floor.

Naruto growled. He became so angry that Mariko stopped to look at him. She could feel him overpowering her. "IMPOSSIBLE! STOP! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Naruto glared at her and moved towards Sakura, who was now hurled over panting for air. Naruto gently, but firmly gripped her hand and focused on getting them out of there. Mariko forced her chakra to continue working, but the effects of the sealing was starting to take its toll on her. She couldn't freely use her chakra liked she wanted to, and it was frustrating the DEVIL out of her!

Mariko cursed under her breath when the two disappeared out of her 'dungeon'. "Well, there will always be better times." Mariko then started to laugh manically and began planning her next move. She WILL get her hubby!

~~X~~

Naruto awoke next to Sakura. He immediately began panicking, thinking that Tsunade's plan didn't work. Sakura coughed a bit and Naruto's eyes widened. "N- Na- Naruto? Tsunade? What are you guys doing here?" Naruto quickly wrapped his arms around Sakura, embracing her in a too tight hug. "Keep holding her like that and she'll faint again!" Tsunade growled, pissed that he got to Sakura before she did.

Naruto ignored her and kept hugging his best friend tightly. Ino stepped into the room beside Hinata. The platinum blonde shook her head, "It's going to be impossible to pull him away from her." Hinata looked on to them with relief and a bit of jealousy, since Naruto had his head pressed against Sakura's bosoms. Kakashi and Yamato came in next. The white haired jonin sighed, "Thank goodness!" Yamato nodded, "Yes, our student has survived! Naruto, Sakura, we have some matters to discuss as soon as Sakura gets better. Killer Bee, we need to discuss something with you." Bee nodded and followed Kakashi and Yamato out the hospital room.

Tsunade was teary eyed, "Sakura, oh Sakura thank goodness you're okay!" The 5th Hokage had to yank and throw Naruto off her apprentice to give her a hug. "Thank you shishou. Thank you so much," Sakura cried into her mentor's shoulder. The sight was too much for Ino, as she began to cry as well. Sakura wiped away her tears and tried to sit up, to which she succeeded with the help of Tsunade and Ino. "Sakura, you will have to stay on bed rest for a couple of days. Bee told us that you shouldn't your chakra too much, since Mariko's chakra is fusing with yours. Unlike Kurama, Mariko is not sealed in you, so you will have to control your emotions better. Anything too depressing or that can make you extremely angry would cause a transformation. But according to Bee, you should be able to go through your cloaks just like Naruto does, but be careful just in case."

Sakura nodded in comprehension, then frowned, "Okay, but what about my duties at the hospital? There's got to be some way I can still work right?"

"You are being placed on temporary probation until you are fully recovered. Having a foreign chakra fuse with your own can be dangerous, so we want you to relax until the fusing process is over." Sakura was a bit angry at this, but she immediately understood. If she was now a jinchuriki, that meant that there could be situations in the hospital that could trigger powerful emotions, causing a transformation. For example, if she was to lose a patient, or have someone come in with a gut-wrenching condition, then she'd freak out and let out Mariko's chakra, which can be harmful to other patients and workers in the building.

Sakura smirked, "So basically, I'll have to be put in quarantine until further notice?" Tsunade smiled, happy to see that there was a positive emotion coming from her mentee, "Well, yes, but not exactly. We are having Naruto watch over you until you recover. But don't worry, I've figured out a way where he can do this, while watching over his family and continuing his Hokage studies," Tsunade announced proudly. Sakura playfully cringed a bit, "So, I will be in quarantine with there still being a possibility that I can die?" Naruto was awake long enough to hear that sly comment. "HEY," Naruto wined, as he came back into the room. Tsunade slapped him across the head, "It's about time you woke up! I was afraid I killed you back there!"

Naruto glared at Tsunade, "Old lady!". Unfortunately, the Senju princess heard his little sly comment and reeled her fist back to deliver a chakra enhanced punch, that is until Sakura cleared her throat to get both their attentions. "While I do believe that Naruto deserves a big smack upside his shell head, when can I get out of here?" Naruto glared at Sakura and Tsunade smiled, "As soon as Naruto's ready to take you home!" The messy blonde continued to glare at Sakura, "I'm starting to think that she'll enjoy it better in a cold uncomfortable hospital room!" Sakura giggled and returned his glare coldly, which made everyone in the room shiver at the tension. She was just acting all sweet and innocent, but that quickly transformed into a death stare. Naruto farted out of nervousness, "Never mind! You can come home with me! I will shower you with all the care in the world and make sure that your physical and mental health is doing just fine!" Hinata could feel the nervousness coming from Naruto and was a bit scared for him, that is until Naruto threw Sakura over his shoulder.

Ino and Hinata both gasped, "He is so dead!" they thought. "Be careful with her Naruto! Too much excitement and you'll have to be giving her the Sora treatment!" Tsunade shivered at what she herself just warned. Naruto nearly survived during that attack and if it wasn't for him and Sora having a close bond, Sora would've leveled the entire village and then some. Naruto just turned around and smiled, "Don't worry! Sakura's not even half the jerk Sora was!" He then realized what he said and some other things, like the fact that he was laying on the ground outside the hospital and Sakura was crouched over him with her knees on both sides of his waist grabbing him by the throat. "You wanna repeat that again, sunshine?" She said sweetly. Naruto gulped. Tsunade just shook her head. Ino and Hinata both prayed to kami that Naruto would at the very least, survive Sakura's fury. Kakashi, Yamato, and Bee gave off a high-pitched scream because they didn't expect them to land directly where they were standing.

"Sa- Sakura-chan. I-I'm sorry! Can we talk this through? I-I di- didn't mean to call you a jerk. I was only saying that Sora was one and that you could sometimes be a bit, harsh that's all!" Sakura calmed herself down and got off him. She only did so because she noticed the pink chakra forming around her. "Tsunade, I don't think that it's a great idea for Naruto to be watching over me. I mean, I could've just killed him had I not realized I was transforming." Tsunade and the others jumped from the whole Sakura created down to the ground where they were standing, "Sorry, you guys are just going to have to learn to get along. Naruto is the only person who can manage your chakra without getting injured. But don't worry, Captain Yamato will also be watching over you. So, some days, Naruto will watch you and some days, Yamato will. There will also be days where both of them watch you, because of what just happened as an example." Naruto struggled to stand up. Sakura turned around and was about to apologize when Naruto threw her back over his shoulder, "You're gonna get it when we get home! Now come on Hinata, we must find Boruto and Sarada and get back before Sakura turns into she- Hulk again!"

Sakura huffed at Naruto's comment and let him carry her back to his house. Tsunade shook her head at her two favorite people and looked back at Yamato, who was finishing up repairing the whole in the wall. "Are you fine with watching over Sakura with Naruto? I'm sorry for throwing your name in there." Yamato used his wood jutsu to come down from the floor where the whole was, "I'm fine with it. Also, Killer Bee wanted your permission on teaching Sakura some new jutsu. I just learned from Kakashi that since Mariko is more than likely to have a fire chakra type like Kurama, then maybe, Sakura can perform boil and lava release since she already can do water and earth jutsus." Tsunade nodded, "That is something we should look into. We can start her training when she gets better, until then, let her get some rest."

Yamato and Kakashi nodded when Tsunade dismissed them and they puffed into a cloud of smoke, going off to get something to eat from the BBQ shop. Tsunade turned to Hinata and Ino, who were still standing there in shock from what Sakura displayed a few minutes ago, "Well, don't just stand there! Hinata! Go find your kid and Sakura's kid! Ino! Go check up on your best friend!" Both girls said, "HAI!" in reply, and went off to do what they were told.

~~~X~~~

Hinata walked the streets until she found Boruto, Sarada, and Inojin sitting at a ramen shop. The two boys were comfortingly patting Sarada on the back as she softly cried about her 'mother's death'. Hinata thought that the moment was heartwarming, but she knew it would be even better when she broke the news. She approached the three young children and cleared her throat to get their attention. "Hello Boruto, Good evening Inojin." Both boys turned to look at the lavender eyed woman and gently smiled. "She's not taking so well, and neither am I," said Boruto. His eyes were blood shot red from crying with Sarada. Hinata knew how much her son cared for the pink haired kunoichi and she was happy that he seemed to be over his anger with his father.

"Well, I've come with great news! Naruto was able to save Sakura's life." All three of them gasped in surprise. "H-HOW IS THA-THAT EVEN PO-POS-POSSIBLE!? IT CAN'T BE TRUE! WE ALL SAW MY MOMMY DIE ON THAT OPERATING TABLE WITH OUR OWN EYES!" Hinata was shocked to see that Sarada was able to use the Sharingan at this age. "But it is true! Now let me explain! Naruto was able to save Sakura by entering her mind again. Sakura wasn't completely dead when we declared her to be so, she was just trapped in her mind with Mariko. Naruto had to go and save her from it because Mariko's chakra is still too much for Sakura to handle."

Boruto shot up out of his seat with Sarada doing the same, "If it is true, then take us to my mom!" Hinata gave a gentle smile and led them back to her house.

~~~X~~~

Ino arrived to the 4th's mansion where Naruto was staying and knocked on the door. "Naruto! It's me, Ino, open up!" When she got no response after the 5th knock, she tried opening the door to find it unlocked. When she stepped in and closed the door, she turned to see a HOT MESS laying in their 'living room'. "What the on Earth happened here?" Ino asked herself, as she began going up the stairs, following the growls she heard. She pulled out a kunai and prepared herself for what seemed like a break in. She followed the noises to a room and counted to three before kicking the door open. Ino's mouth fell wide open at the site.

Sakura was on top of Naruto again just like she was earlier that day. Naruto was struggling to get free from her death grip on his neck. "You mind repeating that you PERVERT!" Sakura roared. Naruto panicked below her, "I didn't mean it like that! I swear! I only said I was going to 'treat you right tonight' as in saying I was taking you out to eat or something!" Sakura loosened up her grip a bit and glared at him, "And how am I supposed to believe you?" Naruto smiled, "I was going to take Hinata and the kids out with us?" Sakura glared until her eyes became red slits. She was looking closely into his eyes for any signs of him lying. She took in a deep breath and when she exhaled, the chakra faded from around her.

Naruto blushed when he sensed Ino watching them from the doorway. The position they were in was not what he'd call 'appropriate'. Sakura moved a bit and he blushed even more. He felt his blood rushing down below his waist and gently pushed Sakura off him. He just waved at Ino and ran off to the bathroom of that bed room and slammed and locked the door. Ino was staring cross- eyed at what she just saw and then turned her attention back to Sakura. Who was still breathing heavily on the bed, sweating with her hair sprawled out everywhere. "Damn my dirty mind! It looked like they just got done having hot dirty animalistic -"

"Ino?" Sakura slowly sat up and looked over to her blonde friend. "Ino! Was you here the whole time?" Ino shook her head, "No, but if I were you, I'd be glad that I was here instead of Hinata. You should've seen the way Naruto was blushing, seeing you all sweaty and stuff on top of him like that. It looked extremely inappropriate." Sakura snarled a bit and blew her hair out of her face. "Well, I guess you're right. Where is Naruto anyways?" Ino gave off an evil smirk that made Sakura cringe a little, "He ran off to the bathroom after he pushed you off him. He was blushing like mad, so I guess he's in there-"

"UUUGGGGGHHH!" Sakura turned towards the sound and soon after, Naruto came out of the bathroom. He saw Sakura sitting up on the bed with messy hair and was still sweating a bit. Because of his heightened senses, he was able to trace the trail of one all the way between her breast. Naruto groaned in annoyance and went back in the bathroom. Sakura face palmed and shook her head. Right when Ino was about to open her mouth, Sakura stopped her, "DON'T, finish that sentence." Ino chuckled. "Looks like someone hasn't gotten over you, forehead." Sakura growled and something snapped in her mind. "HOLY CRAP! I'VE GOTTA, I'VE GOTTA CLEAN THAT LIVING ROOM! IT'S A HOT MESS!" Ino looked at her confusingly, "So... what exactly happened before I got here?" Sakura rolled her eyes and made a few shadow clones to do the work for her. "You're going to think of it in a perverted way, but I guess there's no need in hiding it from you since you can easily access my memories with your stupid jutsu." Ino smiled in victory and crossed her legs and sat like a little kindergartener waiting for a good story to start. "I want every 'juicy' detail." Sakura rolled her eyes again and began telling Ino what happened.

*Flashback*

Sakura let Naruto carry her all the way home. She was able to see that Hinata didn't do what Naruto told her, since he had her thrown over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes. She just shrugged thinking that she was just shocked from what happened. However, that transformation took its toll on her and she fell asleep.

*Time Skip to when they arrived at the Namikaze residence*

Naruto gently placed Sakura on the bed. His heart warmed at the sight of his sleeping beauty. Naruto had always looked at Sakura like she was some type of queen or princess. She was absolutely stunning to him. He shook the thoughts out of his head and leaned forward to press a kiss against her forehead. He laughed at the nostalgia of the moment and began to walk off. He heard Sakura moan a bit and turned around to see her sitting up in the bed. "Naruto?" He smiled at her saying his name in a husky voice.

Naruto walked towards the bed and held her upper body in his arms, "Yes, Sakura- chan?" Sakura cringed a bit, "Stop being weird! Weirdo!" Naruto's face fell, "Come on Sakura- chan. I'm trying to be nice here!" Sakura huffed and then giggled when Naruto groaned in annoyance. "I'm sorry, it's funny to see you get worked up since you don't do it that much." Naruto glared at her, "Well, you better be glad I care about you the way I do." Sakura just sighed and leaned into his chest a bit more.

"You're too kind Naruto. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve you as a friend." Naruto raised his eyebrows at this. Sakura moved so that her head was laying in his lap and she could look up at his face. "I mean, I've done nothing but beat the crap out of you. It's only reasonable for you to stop caring for me like you do. Like, I was so happy when I found out you were dating Hinata. That showed me that you were able to move on and that you was able to expand your heart pass your little 'crush' you had." Naruto was even more confused, "What do you mean move on? And what crush?"

Sakura shook her head, "Naruto it's obvious that your crush on me was because of your rivalry with Sasuke." Naruto was confused, then he turned angry, "Are you kidding me right now? My crush on you was from my rivalry with Sasuke? Sasuke has nothing to do with the feelings I had for you! I LOVED you because I fell in love with you on my own. I loved you because you are beautiful. Because you had potential to be amazing, which you are! I loved you because you were stunning and smoking hot! Because you were intelligent and smart. But most importantly, because you reminded me of one of the family members I never had."

Sakura got teary eyed, "Naruto-"

Naruto smiled sadly, "You know, my feelings are a bit hurt that you'd think my crush for you wasn't even real love, and that it was because of Sasuke." Sakura sat up and hugged him, some of Mariko's chakra leaked out a bit. "Naruto, I am so sorry! I had no idea that you felt for me that way. When Sai told me that you loved me, I didn't want to believe it because I was still mixed about my own emotions and I was scared that you'd hate me after that confession."

Naruto's eyes shot open wide, "Wait, Sai said that?!" Sakura smiled, "Yeah, he told me that you didn't want to tell me something for some reason and he said that you loved me." Naruto's heart warmed from the smile Sakura gave her. "I really am sorry Naruto. See, this is why I don't deserve you. I always hurt your feelings!"

"And I always forgive you. Because no matter how mad I may get at you, I can't stay mad at you forever. All your goofy acts and your smart analytic processing faces. They all just bring a smile to my face." Naruto said, kissing her knuckles. Sakura blushed 5 shades of red and turned her head away. Naruto chuckled, "Your so cute when you blush!" Sakura blushed even deeper red, if it was even possible. She sat up and started to crawl away when she felt Naruto wrap his arms around her waist. "Come on now Sarkura, let me treat you right to night!" Sakura blushed even redder. At this point, she looked like a red-hot pepper. "Naruto!" Sakura growled. Naruto pulled her back. He was holding her like a three-year-old would hold a stray cat it found on a street (so basically, he held Sakura up against his chest and was like "hey look mom! I found a cat! Yeah that crap)

Sakura growled and pinned Naruto down on the bed, "You'll do what?!"

*End Flashback*

"AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH"

"So... that's what happened," Ino said, both girls were ignoring Naruto's moans coming from the bathroom. Sakura nodded her head and got up to fix her clothes right. Naruto came out the bathroom and stared at the two girls back and forth. "What were you two talking about?" Ino smirked evily, "Oh you know, just girly stuff. What were you doing in that bathroom." Naruto turned tomato red, "Oh... well... um... I was just... hehe... oh wait, NONE OF YOUR GOD DAMN BUISNESS!"

Sakura blushed a bit, Ino already made clear of what he was doing. "Oh please Naruto! We all know you were in there fapping off to Sakura being all sweaty and hot and stuff on top of you!" Sakura smacked Ino upside her head. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? STOP TEASING NARUTO LIKE THAT! AND QUIT EMBARRASING ME!" Sakura was beet red and Naruto felt like he was going to have to go back to the bathroom again.

Ino was about to start fighting Sakura back, but a closing door got their attention, "Crap! Hinata's home!" Naruto grumbled. He straightened the bed, picked up Sakura, and laid her on top of the covers. Ino sat in the chair next to the bed while Naruto took the edge right next to Sakura. Soon, Hinata came in with a shocked Boruto and Sarada by her sides. "Mo- MOM!" Sarada yelled and ran to her side, pushing Naruto off the bed so that she could hold her mom. Boruto smirked at his dad holding the large lump on his head from hitting the floor and walked up and gave Sakura a hug.

"Oh, Sarada, are you okay?" Sakura said concerned.

"I thought- I just knew- When I saw you on that operating table- I- I-"

"Shhh. It's going to be okay now. I love you. And I am here for you. I will always be here for you, no matter what!"

Naruto got teary- eyed at the scene. It was so precious it made his heart melt. Sakura sat up to hug both Boruto and Sakura. Boruto blushed when she kissed his cheek. "This woman still does something to me!" Boruto thought as he saw Ino snort at him from the chair besides the bed. Sarada kept holding her mom while Boruto went back with his mom and dad. Hinata wrapped an arm around her son and continued watching Sakura and Sarada. She began fantasizing about what it would be like if she herself had a daughter. She looked over at Naruto. Hinata knew that he was in his own La La land, staring in awe at the mother and daughter.

"I swear, I will protect this family with my life! Sasuke couldn't do the job, so I will step in and do it myself. Besides, it was always my dream to help take care of Sakura's family." Naruto said in his head proudly. He'd do anything in his power to keep their souls safe. Why? Well duh! He's Naruto Uzumaki! Sure, he has a girlfriend and son to take care of too, but when has that stopped him. Naruto's first love was and has always been Sakura Haruno. Sure, he loves Hinata too, but his feelings could never be as strong for her as they are for Sakura, and that part scared the crap out of him. He didn't want to hurt Hinata's feelings or destroy the growing relationship between him and his son, but he also didn't want to stay with Hinata knowing that his love will always be the strongest for the girl of his dreams. Of course, he cared about Boruto. He was his own son and he loved him dearly. But his issues were a matter of what happened before he was even born.

"I will make sure that everything works out in the end. I've got a good plan in mind, but it may seem devilish. But this man is just like me. Trying to get your crush's attention when they'd turn their backs on you just to follow someone who didn't even acknowledged them. I feel like shit, but I will make sure that everyone is happy in the end." Naruto sighed and brought himself back into reality, "Alright guys! All this emotional stuff is making me hungry. Let's get the gang and go out for some BBQ!" Everyone cheered in agreement. "This has to be special guys! Sakura was able to survive Mariko! She's got to have some strong mental mind for that! Let's all get dressed up fancy and then after BBQ, WE'RE GOING TO PARTY HARDY!"

That last note made everyone sweat drop. Leave it to Ino to make everyone go to the club. "I hope she remembers my condition and chose somewhere else to go." Sakura thought. "Sakura? Mind allowing me to kidnap you to take you to my house. You need a makeover! You are going to be FLAWLESS by the time I'm finish with you!" Sakura sweat dropped again as she allowed Ino to stand her up and teleport them to her house. Naruto growled, "That party- holic! I hope she remembers Sakura's emotional condition. If she gets too excited, we're doomed!" Everyone else in the room sweat dropped again, "Yeah, don't wanna make her lose her cool" Boruto agreed, remembering how feisty she was when she got mad at Naruto. He imagined how much worst it could get with her being a Jinchuriki now. He shuddered and prayed that his father never got Sakura mad ever again.

Hinata was thinking the same thing. She shook the thoughts out of her head and cleared her throat, "Well, you heard Ino. Get dressed and let's meet up at around 6pm." The boys both nodded in agreement and went to find something nice to wear.

Naruto was searching through his closet when a thought came to his mind that made his skin bleach, "HOLY CRAP! IF INO IS PICKING OUT SAKURA'S OUTFIT THEN... OH...MY...GOD! Please don't let it look to 'showy'." Naruto found a nice orange button down and some black trousers and black Jordan's to wear and put them on his bed while he went to take a shower. It was going to be a long night. 

**AN: So I laughed while writing most of this chapter. Ino being a pervert and poor Naruto. I decided to add some modern things in here because I felt like if I tried to make everything they did and lived canon, I would mess this book up worst than it is. Next chapter... umm... I'm working on it! But just know, though I am suffering from severe writter's block right now, I will not be terminating this story like I did the other one. I am still debating on even re-writing it. Oh well, I think this one is better in my opinion. People appreciate this one more so...**

**Anyways, PM is open! Bring your NaruSaku ideas to me and I will see what I can do! Also, for those who noticed the constant change in my username, I will keep doing it until I get comfortable with what I vibe I want to keep on here. Kiba is my fav male Naruto character, so I just said "What the heck? Why not?" and added it up there. Akumaru is irresistible so his name is there too. Until next time! Have a great day!**


	9. Chapter 10: The Devilish Ino- Pig!

Sakura found herself standing in Ino's bedroom. She was glaring at her blonde ponytail wearing friend. "Ino- pig!" Ino smirked viciously at her pink haired BFF, "Relax billboard brow! You're going to be just fine!" Sakura mumbled something incoherent and Ino just giggled. But it wasn't just any giggle. No. Sakura knew that laugh. Nothing ever good came of it either.

Sakura watched as Ino began searching through her closet. She huffed, "You know I'm to 'fat' to fit your clothing right?" Ino gave that evil laugh again, "Don't worry. You didn't think I was picking out your outfit too didn't you?" An angry vein popped on Sakura's forehead, "What are you planning to do? It better not be anything dumb or else Ino I swear I'll-"

"Relax hothead!" Ino pulled out a purple skirt that was way to short and showed off her thighs. She went to her drawer and pulled out a black tank top and she got some black heels from her closet. "No," Sakura started. "NO, NO, NO! THERE WILL BE KIDS AT THIS PARTY! KIDS!" Ino chuckled, "Oh no Sakura, this is for my after party." Ino then pulled out a white fitted dress that was decorated with purple flowers and birds. The dress was still over 2 inches above her knees. She picked out some black flats to wear with it. "This, is what I am wearing!" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, the outfits are cute and all, but why would you drag me here to look at your clothes? I could've seen them at the party!" Again, Ino laughed. "You, my 'sexy' friend, are going with me to the store! We are getting you a BEAUTIFUL, HOT, AND ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE outfit!" Sakura rolled her eyes, "Yeah right, like I'll let you choose what I wear. I don't trust your sense of ... 'fashion'. It's too showy!" Ino dragged Sakura out the door as they made their way to town. Sakura mentally faced palmed, "Great Haruno! Just fricken great!"

~~~X~~~

At the clothing store, Ino let Sakura look around for herself before just getting bored with her selection of 'granny club outfits'. I don't wanna dress like a thot!" Ino just stared at Sakura looking as if she were saying 'are you kidding me right now?' Earlier, she picked up a pair of blue jeans and a plain white t- shirt, which would've been fine if they weren't GOING ANYWHERE FANCY! Ino saw Sakura pick up a two-piece set that consisted of a red half top and a red and white flower-patterned mini skirt, which quickly caught the blondie's attention. Sakura then made a face at it and put it back on the rack. "Sakura, seriously?" Sakura had picked up a hot pink maxi skirt with a light green fitted V- neck to match. "Ino! I am not trying to impress anyone!

Ino mimicked a fake hurt expression on her face, "Oh, I'm a THOT now?" Sakura huffed and apologized. Ino just laughed hysterically and walked over to her best friend. "Come on forehead! Let me help a sister out, eh?"

Ino grew tired of Sakura denying every single outfit she suggested. Either it was too showy, or the colors didn't compliment her 'physical stand- outs'. So Ino came up with a rather vicious plan and sent Sakura back home, saying that she'd find her something from the store that the pinkett usually got her clothes from. When questioned, Ino just simply told her that she needs to help Sarada find an outfit, which surprisingly worked. After Sakura left, Ino made sure that she was fully out of sight before she picked up a few 'gifts' for her friend at the store they were already in.

"Ah... these two outfits should work out PERFECTLY!" Ino paid the cashier her dues and swayed her hips while walking out of the store and down the road back to her house, feeling completely accomplished.

~~~X~~~

Sakura was fixing Sarada's outfit. It was a white romper with a train that had colorful paint splattered prints on it. Sarada wore a pair of black glasses and her hair was pulled up into a bun with a white flower placed on the side of it. Sarada rolled her eyes at her mom's frequent attempts to make her look perfect. She wasn't a girly girl, so the outfit felt extremely uncomfortable on her. Sakura pushed her daughter in front of the mirror that was in her room. "OH...MY...GODNESS! You look so CUTE!" Sarada rolled her eyes at her mom, "Yeah, so um... when can I take this off and burn it?" Now it was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes, "Come on Sarada! Be girly for once!"

"Oh please mom! You don't even like being girly! You always smack Ino for making you wear a dress!" Sakura shook her head, "I can be girly. Just because I fight and interrogate enemies like I'm a man, doesn't mean I can't flirt and dress like a woman! It's part of being a kunoichi. I'll get into further details as to why when you're older. No go check up on Boruto for me, kay?" Sarada made a gagging sound before walking down the stairs to meet up with Boruto, who was getting fussed at by his mom for losing his tie.

Sakura shook her head went to her room, closed, and locked the door. She sighed, walking over to her closet to find an outfit before a puff of smoke appeared in her trails. She chocked a bit and pulled out a kunai from her thigh holster and pumped chakra in it to prepare for an attack. She groaned in annoyance when she saw that it was just Ino there.

"Oi, Oi, kill me 'AFTER' you look in these bags!" Sakura reluctantly opened the first bag. "That, my friend, is your evening attire at 6!" Ino squealed in excitement when Sakura pulled out the dress Ino had gotten her. "No... Freaking... WAY! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING PIG!" Sakura was furious by this point. The dress wasn't any simple dress. NO. It was a freaking cocktail dress! The dress was black and had spaghetti strapped strings. There was a REVEALING v- cut that would show a sneak peak of her breasts. The back of the dress was pretty much nonexistent, since it stopped right above the hump that signaled the end of her back and the beginning of butt. Ino let out a loud laugh at Sakura's expression, "You failed for it! That's MY club attire for when I force Sai out on dates there!"

Sakura gave her friend a deaf defying stare, "Ino! We LEAVE IN AN HOUR! QUIT FOOLING AROUND!" Ino wiped the tears from her eyes as her laughter subsided, "Well, we both know that Naruto would've LOVED to see you in that dress!" Sakura turned into a human tomato at the thought of Naruto drawling her in such distasteful outfit. Ino handed over another bag, to which Sakura hesitantly took. Sakura pulled yet another black dress out of the bag and stared at it in awe. It was... beautiful. The dress showed just the right amount of skin. Ino then handed over a shoe box, in which contained a pair of Scarlet red pumps that strapped in a criss cross like pattern over the top of her feet. Ino handed a smaller bag over in which contained a pearl necklace and a pair of red tear drop ear rings. "I- Ino... I-"

"Don't start forehead! I already know you're gonna start with that 'Oh what must I do to repay you?' crap! Well, consider this as a thank you for helping me get with Sai. I really do appreciate it, Sakura. And I am also doing you a favor by picking out that outfit." Sakura looked at her, a little bit confused by that last part. "What do you me-"

"Get in that dress already damn it! I wanna see how much you've grown up to be a woman! That dress, I picked it out knowing that it would suit every feminine curve on your body! Now go so I can make your face look all SEXY!" Sakura rolled her eyes at Ino and went into the bathroom of her room to get a shower in and change. Ino smiled, happy with her plan being 50% in action. What Sakura didn't know, was that the after party was for adults only for a reason. She also didn't know that Ino had personally picked out what she's going to wear for that after party too. Ino laughed evilly while she set up her make- up on Sakura's bed and waited patiently for Sakura got out the bathroom. The only thing on her mind right now was the reaction Sakura would get from Naruto.

Ah yes, Naruto. The boy who had a flip flop change of heart and from what? A genjutsu? Ino huffed in annoyance. With her mind abilities, she could easily see that Naruto and Sakura still had love for each other. It was just difficult to tell because both are so good at masking it because they were using their kids and 'wife' to cover up their true emotions. If it hadn't been for Ino being Sakura's BFF and for her knowing Naruto for so long, she would've totally missed it.

She heard footsteps approaching the door and a knock that followed it. "It's Naruto, can I come in? Is everything alright in there Sak-"

"Naruto! How good to see you!" Naruto was puzzled now, "Ino? What are you doing here? I thought you were at the store getting something for Sakura- chan." Ino shook her head, "Well, I did, and you," She said while pushing him out the room, "Can't be in here right now!" Naruto furrowed his brows together, "What's wrong with her? Is she sick? Is she hurt? *gasps* DID SAI SAY SOMETHING AGAIN? I swear when I see him I'm gonna-"

"Shut the hell up already! Sakura's fine! She's getting dressed! She needs PRIVACY! Sai didn't say anything! If she gets sick or faints, I WILL LET YOU KNOW!" Ino frustratedly slammed the door in his face, not caring that this was the Namikaze residence and that she didn't live here. When her best friend needed privacy, then god damnit she needed privacy!

Sakura stepped out of the bathroom with a single towel wrapped around her now matured body. "Is everything alright? I could've sworn I heard you yelling." The platinum blonde shook her head, "It was just Naruto being a Peeping Tom." Sakura growled a bit at this, "Okay, he better be lucky he wasn't in here while I'm like this, or else he would've really gotten it!" Ino smirked and turned Sakura back around to the bathroom, "Go get dressed! I'm starting to think you want him to come back in here so that he can kiss all on you and stuff, while I record it and send it to you for you to watch for your enjoyment!" Sakura sweared loudly at Ino, blushing mad red, before slamming the bathroom door closed. Ino laughed until she heard Naruto begging to come in again, saying that he heard Sakura shouting in pain. Ino just simply opened the door and delivered a hard slap to his face.

~~~X~~~

After getting her make up done by the 'Marvelous Ino', Sakura took some time to examine herself in the mirror. She looked GORGEOUS! Ino forced her to walk down stairs with her to meet up with everyone else. Ino, by now, was dressed in a purple halter top with a formal maxi long skirt. She didn't have her ponytail in, giving her a more mature look. As they walked down the stairs, all eyes were on them. "It's about time you guys showed up! What was taking you so loooo-" Naruto couldn't even finish his sentence. Both him and Boruto's eyes bulged out of their heads as they drunk in the image before them.

"Hello Hinata!" Sakura greeted, to which Hinata smiled and waved back to her. Hinata was wearing a short sleeved floral dress with brown colored sandals. She had her hair put up in a bun and had on some red lip gloss to complement her features. Her blushing just made her look cuter. While Hinata and Ino got into a conversation about their sons, Sakura walked over to Naruto with a smile on his face. He couldn't even say anything. She had literally stole his breath away from him. There she was, Sakura Haruno, dressed in a sleeveless dress that was long at the back and short in the front. The front had a split over her left leg that reveled more skin than was originally necessary. Her long hair was done up into a ponytail with cute little curly strands stood out hanging from the sides. The ponytail was curled though, giving it a more formal look. Her make- up was light, just a little highlight and some ruby red lipstick that really had him slobbering. She had scarlet heels to top it all off and she had a red rose tucked into her ponytail.

Boruto felt himself getting excited and he was clearly unconscious of the pool of drawl forming on the hardwood floor. Poor Boruto, he didn't know how much more he could take. First, Sarada comes in looking like she fell from heaven. Now here comes Sakura looking like a half demon half angel hybrid that was sent to torture him by seducing him with her looks and adorable, yet scary, hot headedness. Sakura cleared her throat to get them out of their fantasizing. "Well boys, you two clean up pretty nice!" Boruto was wearing a white button down with a lavender colored bow- tie. He had black trousers and black Nikes. He blushed like a mad man from her simple complement, "I can't tell if you're an angel or a devil... BUT YOU'RE HOT!" Boruto hadn't know that he said his comment out loud. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, but when Naruto saw that smile on her face, he knew better than to stand in the way. It was the same smile she gave Sai when he first called her ugly.

Sakura slowly walked up to the boy and squatted down in front of him, making both him and Naruto blush even harder. Sakura raised a hand up, making everyone believe that she was about to slap him. Instead, however, she just reached up and ruffled his hair. "Awww! Aren't you adorable, well, if I were you, I wouldn't want to stick around to find out, wouldn't you say?" Everyone audibly gulped. Naruto has experienced sticking around to find out if she was a 'devil or an angle'. So, he decides to break up the tension, "Well, it's 5:30pm and our friends should be there by now. Let's bounce!"

Everyone nodded in agreement and walked towards the BBQ house together.

~~X~~

When they arrived, Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji, TenTen, Shino, Sai, Lee, and Choji were all saving them seats at the large booth they usually sat at.

"Took you guys long enough, Choji almost ordered the entire menu!" Kiba laughed. Only kids that were there were Boruto, Sarada, Inojin, Chocho and Shikadai. "Boruto, Sarada, the kids are sitting in the booth behind us," Shikamaru said, pointing to the booth behind them. Chocho sat up and eagerly waved at Boruto and Sarada, who both sweat dropped at their BBQ sauced friend.

As the kids left to their booth, Naruto sat between Sakura while Hinata and Ino took the end seats next to Shino and Neji.

"Man! It seems like it has been eons since I last saw you all," Naruto cheerfully stated.

"Yeah, I kind of miss hanging out with you idiots," Kiba chimed in.

"Well, I don't miss all of you. Why? Because I was just sent on a mission with TenTen and Choji a few weeks ago."

Everyone had animated black lines fall over their head at Shino's comment. "No shit Sherlock..." Shikamaru mumbled. Sakura cleared her throat and tried to lighten the mood, "Well, we are all together now. Let's be a bit more cheerful!" Naruto nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and Shino, Neji, quit it with the brooding please! You guys are acting like Batman!" Lee laughed and added in his own 'special comment', "Naruto is right! Though we are all older, that doesn't mean that we let are youth slip between our fingers! We must preserve our youthfulness for as long as we live!"

Again, black animated lines fell over everyone's head. Choji scoffed, "Well, if no one else is going to start ordering, then I will!" When the waiter reached their table, Choji ordered a whole clan supply of pork slabs and tons of Yakitori for everyone. Sakura and the other girls decided to order things sweet, like dangos pudding, and cinnamon buns. Naruto ordered some ramen for everyone, despite Neji complaining about it being too early before he smelled the soup again. He instead ordered a few bowls of Herring Soba. He, TenTen, and Naruto cringed when Lee ordered bowls of curry. They then sighed in relief when he made sure that the spiciness was down to a minimum by ordering them the mild kind. Shino decided to order his usual wild grass salad, since most of the food they were ordering was going to have a loud smell to it. Ino happily agreed to his decision, because she claimed to be going on a diet, which Sakura personally knew wasn't true.

While everyone ate, Ino decided to bring up her evil plan innocently, "Okay so guys, I was thinking that we could go somewhere after this. I mean, HELLO? Sakura survived a tailed beast chakra fusion. She's got to have some serious will power for that!" Everyone at the table cheered and clapped for the pink haired kunoichi in congratulations. Sakura deeply blushed, feeling both embarrassed and a tiny bit of arrogance. I mean, who wouldn't? Some of the most powerful shinobi contained tailed beast, though Sakura never considered herself to be as strong as them. If anything, she could practically feel Naruto's fear when she told him that Mariko's chakra would enhance her punching even more than it already was. Sakura yelped in surprise when she noticed Ino nudging her a bit to roughly in her side, "We are going to a reserved club after we leave here! Who's ready to get turnt?" TenTen, Kiba, and Lee cheered in agreement, while Shino kept a concerned look on his face. If it wasn't for them knowing him so well, they wouldn't be able to tell that he seemed worried without his eyes being shown.

"Wait a minute, remember how Naruto's kyuubi leaked its chakra when his emotions went haywire? Shouldn't we take precautions about Sakura's too?" Everyone then went silent in concertation, until Ino spoke up. "Don't worry, it will just be the nine of us. We all know better than to get Sakura all wind up anyways. Well, I can't speak for Naruto." Said blonde blushed in embarrassment, "Ino! Don't worry guys, I will 'try' not to make Sakura upset while we're there." Sakura glared at Naruto a bit before sighing, "Fine, we can go. Under one condition, Lee!" Bushy Brows looked up at his old crush with a confused look on his face. "No drinking!" Lee then laughed sheepishly and gave her a thumbs up, "Don't worry Lady Sakura, I will be sure that you are safe thought the whole party! You can count on me!" Sakura blushed a bit at the title Rock Lee gave before her name. Naruto gave a surprisingly dark glare at Lee before standing up. "Well, since Choji seemed to clear the table, shall we get going?" Everyone stood up until Hinata realized something.

"Wait guys!" Everyone turned to the ravenett's light squeaky voice. "What about the kids?" Ino laughed surprisingly evilly at Hinata's question, "Oh, the kids? They'll be fine! I just so happened to hire them an AWSOME babysitter." Shikamaru ran in front of Ino, "Who?" He was obviously worried about who she hired. Last time he let Ino babysit their child, he found his son in a pink tutu doing ballet in their living room. Good thing Temari wasn't there to witness it, or he would've lost another team mate. R.I.P Asuma Sarutobi. Just as Ino was about to answer, Tsunade appeared in a puff of smoke. "Okay, where are the devils?" Sakura ran up and hugged her sensei like a little child. "Thank you Tsunade- shishou!" The Senju princess smiled at her 'daughter'. "Jeez, how many times do you have to thank me? You know well that I love you like the daughter I never had. Me saving your life is only one of the least things that I'd do for you. My life would without hesitation be replaced for your happiness."

Sakura's eyes watered at her mentor's words. Though she wouldn't appreciate the slug sannin dying for her, it was still a sweet thing to say. Ino ruined the moment, "Hey billboard brow! Quit crying! You'll ruin your make- up. We've got to get going!" Ino yanked Sakura away from their teacher, slapped a ton of money in the previous hokage's hand and dragged Sakura out the door. Naruto quickly got out of his teary-eyed state and ran to catch up with Ino and Sakura. Naruto picked Sakura up in his arms, stating that Ino was holding Sakura's hand to tight and haughtily walked ahead of Ino, before bowing his head in embarrassment when Ino reminded him that he didn't know where the club was. Everyone else laughed at the routinely thing Ino and Naruto usually faught over and followed. Hinata, however, wasn't smiling. She followed behind the crowd, with an inner scowl on her face. She appreciated that Naruto cared deeply for Sakura, but he was being a bit too 'lovey dovey' with his team mate.

~~~X~~~

When Naruto finally placed Sakura down, she began randomly throwing punches in every direction. She couldn't see because Kiba blind folded her, and she had an urge to go all out on two of the stupidest loving jerks in Konoha. They could be just as sweet as they were dumb. Naruto caught her flurry of fists with his hands and slowly pulled the blind fold off her head, "Relax Sakura- chan, we're here now." Sakura continued to scowl at the blonde and the snickering ninken owner behind him. She turned and her jaw dropped in awe at the club. She'd never seen it before, immediately assuming that it was just built. The front of the building was covered with glass windows. They were lucky that the club seemed on the outskirts of the village. Ino smirked, "Just wait, there's more inside!" Sakura was pushed by her best friend inside and Sakura gasped loudly and covered her mouth with her hands. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the view as well.

The inside was covered with luxurious furniture and it had white fluffy carpets over certain sections of the fresh wooden floors. There was a huge water fountain in the middle of the floor. In the far back, there was a DJ table and a huge dancefloor on it. It was blocked by a red ribbon and a huge pair of golden scissors laying on a chair near the area. Ino ushered everyone upstairs to have a look around. It was beautiful. There was more luxurious furniture with board games and cards under the glass tables. There were upstairs and downstairs restrooms. Ino also pointed out that there were rooms on down the upstairs part that were bedrooms for sleeping and... other things Sakura wished she hadn't heard. "One more surprise, Sakura!"

Everyone took the stairs, since they all couldn't fit in the elevator, to the roof of the club. Sakura didn't know if she wanted to faint or throw up from excitement. There was a HUGE pool on top of the roof, with a sectioned off jacuzzi. There was also outdoor furniture. Some was under a large tent near the pool and others were just placed in random places near the railing of the outer roof. Everyone moved to the railing and leaned against it to look at the city in the distance. Ever since the war, the people of Konoha advanced a bit in everything, but the streets being lit up at night was already very common.

Sakura was still extremely awe struck, "Ino, how did you... How can I re-"

"Don't... finish that sentence. This is our way of saying congratulations to you and this is also called 'The Konoha 11's Palace. We can all just come here to chill whenever we want to."

Sakura was deep in thought, "Wait... you said 'our'?" Ino smiled warmly, "Yeah! Me, Naruto, Captain Yamato, and Lady Tsunade all agreed to create this place, well, Cpt. Yamato did all the building. The rest of us designed and stuff." Sakura turned to look at Naruto with a shocked look on her face, "Y- you helped with this?"

"Technically, he came up with this idea. I suggested we do something nice for you and the rest of us, and he suggested we make something similar to a building he was reading about in some comic. We thought it was weird, but when we heard his designing suggestions, we quickly fell in love with the plan!" Naruto blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Eh, Ino, you guys helped too! Stop making it seem like I did all the AH!" Sakura had attacked Naruto with a huge hug. TenTen started to cry and she joined. Soon, everyone joined in a group hug, with Sakura being a bit crushed from everyone surrounding the one on one hug she was giving Naruto. As if feeling her slight discomfort, Naruto said, "Okay guys, this is a little smothering don't you think? Give Sakura- chan some air!" Everyone backed away wiping stray tears. The only ones who were completely out of the hug were Shino and Neji, but everyone could tell that they were being soft on the inside.

"Now, now everyone! Time to cut the ribbon!" Ino shouted. Everyone followed her back to the first floor. Everyone gathered around while Ino handed the big pair of golden scissors to Naruto. The blonde jinchuriki blushed bashfully, "I- Ino! You should be the one to cut the ribbon!" The platinum blonde kunoichi shook her head, "No! In fact, both you AND Sakura should cut it!" Sakura looked at her friend with a confused expression, "Me? But I haven't done anything to deserve this. Compared to you all I'm pretty much use-"

"Don't! Don't do this to yourself Sakura!" TenTen yelled from the crowd of friends.

"TenTen's right, you've become one of the world's best medic nins the world has ever seen." Shikamaru added.

"Though I hate to say this, when it comes to combat, your analytical mindset plus your training with Lady Tsunade makes you surpass all of us in terms of combat." Neji added with his eyes closed.

"They're right! And with the 5th teaching you the Byakugou technique, you were extremely useful during the 4th Great Ninja War and you are the heroine of that war too!" Lee yelled cheerfully, causing a few people to cringe in pain from their ears. Sakura giggled a little at his almost cute antiques and Naruto huffed in jealousy.

"Besides, you're like a legend right now! Every little girl at the academy wants to either be a medic or a strong kunoichi just like you! I'd say that's worth praising. The shinobi world needs more women to put these men in place!" Ino chided.

"And Sakura, if it wasn't for you encouraging me to keep moving forward, I'd probably not even be here right now. Like that tree climbing exercise we did back when we were genin with Kakashi- sensei. I never did thank you for giving me those tips on how to control my chakra to the bottom of my feet. And all those other times we had together. We've been to hell and back together. We shared blood, sweat, and tears, literally! We held each other when times were rough, and we smiled together when life was shining brighter on our lives. We've protected each other when we were at our worst states, like when Lee told me how you protected me and Sasuke during the chunin exams. It would make me truly happy if you were to cut the ribbon with me."

By now, Sakura was bawling her eyes out, not caring if all of her friends were there. The once giant goofball she knew was 'somewhat' gone and replaced by a new poetic sweetheart. Wait, what was she thinking? That side has always been in him. That's how he got some of their most dangerous enemies to become good at heart. "Just shut up you baka!" Sakura ran up and firmly hugged Naruto, to which he just smiled warmly and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Sai, who now appeared out of no where, decided to draw the two in their adorable embrace. Ino smirked as she saw Neji and Shino both turn away with their shoulders trembling from crying. Lee blew his nose into a tissue, "The power of youth always brings two close friends together closer than they'd always been." Kiba rolled his eyes at Lee, struggling to keep tears form falling from his eyes too. TenTen and Ino were just a straight-out emotional wreck. They were holding each other with a whole box of Kleenex in front of them. Choji cried too, while eating a bag of BBQ flavored potato chips that he got from who knows where. Hinata's eyes leaked tears against her own will. Though she was ready to go full Yandere mode on Sakura, Naruto was right, they're closer to each other than anyone else in the room.

TenTen straightened herself up and cleared her throat, "Okay enough of this cheesy crap! You two have made me cry twice in one day! ANBUs don't cry!"

Everyone else laughed and agreed. Kiba picked Sakura up and threw her over his shoulders and walked over to place her by Naruto, "Cut. It. NOW!" The crowd of friends all cheered her on while Naruto handed her the other half of the scissors. Sakura slowly took them and her and Naruto held the scissors over the red ribbon.

"3...2...1..." The crowd shouted as the ribbon was snapped in half. Everyone cheered and Ino stood on top of a bar, "OKAY PEOPLE LET'S GE THIS PARTY STARTED!" Kiba quickly ran over to the DJ table and Ino, Sai, TenTen, Choji, and Rock Lee headed out to the dance floor. Shikamaru, Neji and Shino headed up stairs to play Uno. Hinata headed over to the bar where Naruto and Sakura were talking.

"Thank you Sakura, really, for everything." Naruto started.

"No, I should be thanking you. You've clearly done more for me than the other way around."

"But, if it weren't for you, I'd probably not be here right now."

"It's also the other way around. UGH! Quit being stubborn and just say your welcome already!"

"No, 'you' say your welcome!"

"You say it first!"

"No, YOU SAY IT FIRST!"

"Will you two quit arguing! You're acting like 3-year olds!" Naruto and Sakura turned to see Ino standing behind them. Ino then snatched Sakura up, "I am very sorry Naruto, but I need to speak with Sakura really quick." Ino dragged Sakura all the way up to the upstairs restroom.

Hinata came and took Sakura's seat next to Naruto. "Hinata?"

"Hey Naruto- kun." Hinata decided that before Naruto got too attached to that pink haired medic, she would have to earn back his attention 'innocently'. "I was just thinking about something. How do you feel about Sarada and Chocho?"

Naruto rubbed his chin in thought, "They're pretty awesome I guess. They're cute and very smart," Naruto paused and laughed, "Well, I know Sasuke and Sakura are smart, but I can't speak for Choji, but Karui is smart. Anyways, I like the girls a lot! Especially Sarada, she reminds me of her mother A LOT!" Naruto didn't add the fact that she also looked like Karin, his cousin. But Karin told him that she delivered Sarada so it may just be that, "... Sakura looks like Karin?" Naruto quickly shook the thought out of his head and mentally shuddered, "On some level, that thought was disgusting! I just hope Sakura doesn't dye her hair red anytime soon while I'm around!"

Hinata's face fell a bit. She wanted to keep Sakura out of the conversation. Right when she was about to ask him her main question, she noticed everyone in the room gawking upstairs. When she turned around, her mouth fell open too.

Sakura was shyly standing next to Ino, who was wearing the dress she showed Sakura earlier. But Sakura had on a red satin dress with one strap crossed over to the opposite shoulder. The dress definitely showed off her bosoms. But that wasn't all. There were two dangerously high splits going up the sides of her long dress, and she had black laced thigh straps around each of her thighs and black high heels. "She looks like a club whore," Hinata thought as she stared with disgust at her comrade. Though she couldn't complain too much. The outfits she wore to bed to attract Naruto's attention were FAR much worse. Sakura's hair was flowing freely down to her waist, and she was wearing Kushina's hair clip that Naruto gave her.

Ino looked at the crowd as they started dog whistling and cheering her outfit. "You go girl! That's how you work a dress!" TenTen yelled. "You look beautiful!" Kiba and Choji yelled. Shikamaru huffed, "Troublesome women!" Ino smirked when she saw Neji and Shino wiping drawl from their faces. She bleached when she saw Naruto's angry look glaring right at her.

~~~X~~~

While everyone else were busy partying, Naruto stormed over to where Ino and Sakura were standing upstairs. He shook his head when he saw Neji and Shino still staring at his best friend. "Perverts," he thought as he approached the two kunoichi. "Ino! What the hell were you thinking?!" He started. Sakura yelped in surprise and tried to cover herself. Naruto shook his hands, "I've seen you wearing less, Sakura- chan." Ino wiggled her eyebrows, "Well, do you like it? I picked it out just for tonight! She's beautiful!" Naruto stopped and actually took in Sakura's image. Ino was right, she did look like a devil- angel hybrid.

"Well... yes, she's beautiful, but are you trying to make her insecure or something?" Ino shrugged, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the dress you gave her is not something Sakura would wear! It's too revealing!" Ino made an 'O' face and rushed Sakura back to the restroom. Naruto shook his head and went to play Go Fish with Shino, Neji, and Shikamaru.

~~~X~~~

"INO! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" Sakura was blazing with pink chakra all over. Ino was freaking out, "Okay! Calm down! Your gonna destroy the place if you don't quit it!" Sakura calmed down, but only a little. "You better fix this right now!"

Ino summoned a scroll that read 'Back up plan" on the outside. She unrolled it and bit her thumb to make blood come out. She smeared her thumb on the scroll and said, "Hai!" A beautiful short red bandage strappy back dress appeared. Sakura ripped her dress off and quickly replaced it with the new one, smirking when she saw Ino's horrid face looking at the scraps of the 'thot' dress.

"SAKURA, WHAT THE HELL? I LOVED THAT DRESS!" Sakura stuck her tongue out at her best friend, "Then you should've bought it for yourself!" She left Ino sitting in the bathroom to go find Naruto. Ino mumbled something highly rude and threw the scraps of the dress in the garbage before rejoining the party outside.

~~~X~~~

Sakura found Naruto flipping a table over with game pieces everywhere.

"YOU CHEATED! ALL OF YOU CHEATED! I AM NOT GIVING ANY OF YOU FAGGOTS $20!" Neji and Shino were both holding in outbursts of laughter while Shikamaru was struggling to use his Shadow Possession jutsu to keep the blonde from pounding their faces. Sakura's temple vein twitched, and she walked up and grabbed Naruto by the ear. She threw $60 on the couch they were sitting on and dragged Naruto to the dance floor.

"Sakura- chaaaaannn!" Naruto wined like a 2-year-old. Sakura then grabbed Hinata and pushed the two together, causing Hinata to blush. "You haven't been with her all night! Dance with her for crying out loud and quit hogging me from doing anything else other than being with you!" Sakura switched when she walked off, smiling knowing that she was frustrating her friend. She sat next to TenTen and Kiba at the bar and started betting shots on them.

Naruto glared at Sakura. He saw the way she added an extra bounce to the already plump bottom she had. He rolled his eyes when she turned around from the bar and shot a bird at him. He looked down at Hinata laying on his chest. She looked like an angel to him. But he knew that something wasn't right about their relationship. For starters, she wasn't exactly his type in the first place. Sure, she was confident and strong when needed be, but she was too quiet and shy for his liking. The fainting stage was cute when he found out why she did it, but now it was kind of creepy for him to think about the way she used to stalk him around everywhere. And boy was he glad that stopped, at least he thinks it did.

He remembered their first date. Naruto was extremely happy that Hinata was willing to eat Ramen with him. They talked about their dreams and stuff and they even laughed a few times. He tried ignoring the strange look he'd get from the villagers. He already knew that they were looking at him because of Hinata being with him instead of Sakura. Not that they wanted the two together, they just always suspected the village's hero to date the woman who he'd known and love since forever. The unsettling part was the fact that Kurenai had forced Hinata to go out with him. Of course, Hinata wanted to, but she was too shy to ask, therefore, Kurenai did it for her.

The other unsettling part was how during their first few months of dating, Hiashi kept telling him about the clan's history and about Hinata's strength and beauty and other stuff he didn't too much care about. Then, they shared each other's bodies 2 or 3 times and the next think you know, BOOM! He has a child. "Maybe we shouldn't trust $1 protections..." Naruto thought as the song came to an end. He didn't notice Hinata trying to get his attention until she shook him out of his trance.

"Naruto- kun? Can we go up to the roof? I need to ask you something." Naruto nodded and followed Hinata to the elevator. When they arrived, Hinata sat in a chair and motioned Naruto to join on the seat next to her.

"So, what's going on?"

"Well, you see... um..." She really wasn't prepared for this, but she knew that it was now or never. "I was... just wondering... Naruto-kun, how would you feel about having another... child?" Naruto's expression went blank as a sheet of copy paper. "Another kid?" The ravenett nodded, "Yes, I want to have a daughter, just like Temari and Sak-"

"Hinata I don't think we can do that. I mean, look at me. I'm already a terrible dad! I can't even spend time with Boruto-"

"And why not? You can't spend time with me or Boruto and don't you dare say it's because of your 'hokage training'!" Now Hinata was getting furious. "You always say that you love your family, but you never act like it! NEVER-"

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP FOR 5 SECONDS! PLEASE!" Hinata gasped in shock. Never in her life would she suspect Naruto would yell at her or tell her to shut up.

"And you know what? You're so damn selfish that you're missing the big picture! You think everything evolves around you and Boruto. Well guess what! IT DOESN'T! I have personal dreams that I want to accomplish my own god damn self and not in a million years did they EVER include you! My dream was to become the Hokage and to pursue world peace. It seems like the only goddamn dream you ever had was to be with me!" Naruto took a deep breath and calmed himself down. She was, in some way correct.

Naruto wiped the few tears from Hinata's face, "I am so sorry Hinata. It's just that... listen. I'm going to be very blunt with you right now. I am really trying my best to be a better father. It's just that this whole thing is unexpected and it's pretty hard for me. Boruto? I love him dearly, but I wasn't looking forward to settling down until after I became Hokage and stuff. As you can see, I'm tied up right now and now is not the best time to be trying to raise a child. You, along with tons of others know how irresponsible and busy I am. All I'm asking is that you just give me a chance to get everything settled. We can talk about another child then, okay?"

Hinata nodded and pulled away from him. She wanted to scream at him because she knew that if she hadn't got to Naruto before she did, he would've already been trying to make his move on Sakura. Yes, she knew about Naruto's undying love for their comrade. She watched herself on how his crush turned into love. And that love turned into something similar to what a parent has for their children. He'd literally die for her. The thing is, what did Sakura ever do in return? Hinata has never seen Sakura do so much as hurt Naruto's feelings when they were younger. She'd have to watch the two interact more. Or, she could just ask her friends, but she would still need to see for herself. Why? Because that stalker side of her never left of course.

As Hinata pressed the button to the elevator, her now worse enemy appeared. Sakura smiled sweetly at Hinata as she stepped pass her. Hinata weakly smiled, then glared when Sakura's back was turned. There was no way that this pink haired slut was going to take her man. She'd just have to play innocent, for now.

~~~X~~~

Sakura walked pass Hinata and felt some type of dark aura coming from her. "Oh no, Naruto, what did you do now," she thought as she continued to walk towards her blonde life long team mate. He didn't seem to notice her, so she leaned her back against the railing and looked at the pool in front of her. "Naruto?" No response. He didn't look well either. She moved to feel at his face for any signs of sickness until he caught her hand. "We need to talk, now!" Sakura squeaked a little when he snatched her towards him and transported off somewhere.

Sakura opened her eyes and saw that they were now on the Hokage Monument. This was never good if they had to come here just to talk. "Okay, what's going on? I saw Hinata on my way up to talk to you. She didn't seem so happy?" Naruto shook his head and pulled at his hair. "Sakura- chan, I... I don't think I can do this anymore!" Sakura's eyes widened. "Naruto, what are you-"

"SHE WANTS TO HAVE ANOTHER KID! I ALREADY CAN'T HANDLE BORUTO AND NOW SHE WANTS A DAUGHTER!" Naruto's eyes were in red slits now, awakening something in Sakura. She cringed at the pain in her stomach. It felt like something was bothering her. She turned around and lifted up her dress to see the same seal that was on Naruto's stomach appear and light up in a whitish color. "Naruto! You need to calm down. I have a seal on my stomach now!" Naruto moved to see it, but she pushed him back, "I'm wearing a dress!" Naruto blushed and turned back towards the city. Sakura shook her head, "Have you been doing what I asked?" He nodded, "I have, but Hinata wants more." Sakura placed her hand over his, "Give it time, Naruto. Maybe, being around everyone else's daughters have got her a little tempted. Spend more time with them, they'll come around. Trust me, I know how it feels. I almost lost Sarada to Karin." Sakura laughed a little, "It's weird though, she looks awfully a lot like her, so, I let Sarada consider her as an 'aunt' or god mom and she already considers you as a 'dad' or 'uncle'.

Naruto nodded in understanding, "That's nice, but anyways, Sakura, you of all people know how impatient I am. That could turn into a problem-"

"Well, do something about it. You're about to become the Hokage, so impatience is not going to be tolerated. In fact, when you do, I'll get Shikamaru to become your assistant. You're going to need someone responsible enough to keep you in line. Me? I can't do it because it'll get too personal for one. Two, I'm being signed as the head medic in Konoha and I'm busy signing off papers to open my medical clinic in other villages. People are still a bit shaken from the war, so I decided to contribute to it." Naruto's eyes widened, from both her bold outburst about his occupation and the news she just shared, not that he didn't mind her correcting him every now and then. She was still more mature than he was after all.

"YOU'RE WHAT?! SAKURA- CHAN! THAT'S BIG NEWS! LIKE, REALLY BIG! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!" Naruto picked Sakura up and swung her around in the air like they do off of fairytale movies. Sakura rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, NOW PUT ME DOWN!" Naruto obeyed and did as he was told. Sakura cringed at Naruto's goofy smile. She could turn into a whole female version of Satan and he'd STILL smile at her like she was some trophy to be won. "Anyways, it's not as big as you becoming the hokage! I always knew that you'd reach your goals. As hard as you've been working to get to this point, it's without doubt you'll get the spot! The council won't get in your way, I'll make sure of that!" Sakura said the last part while cracking her knuckles, which caused Naruto to gulp out loud.

"Eh, Sakura-chan, you're not planning on... you know... killing the council are you?" Sakura laughed a bit scarily and Naruto stepped back in fear. Sakura saw this and laughed even harder, by now, she was crying. "OMG NARUTO! You- you're HILARIOUS! Why... on Earth... would I kill the council? Not only that, you've defeated some of the world's BIGGEST threats, yet, you still fear me?" Naruto blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but you really do scare me. When enemies hit me, their punches and attitudes are expected. But with you, you can be nice and sweet one moment, and then the next, you'll be ready to pulverize the earth! Sakura sighed, "That's no excuse! You know what'll help, with both your personal problems and your fears of me, we need to spar more. I mean, we never really do it anyways."

Naruto agreed. A good training session is something that he needed. He hasn't trained in what felt like ages. It was one of the best ways he relieved stress. Naruto grabbed her hand and walked down the stairs, dragging her behind him. "Alright, tomorrow morning at 7a.m. We need to work on your training too with you being a 'jinchuriki' and all." Sakura yelped as she felt Naruto snatch her to him and transported them back to the Konoha 11's Palace. When they landed back on the roof, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, and everyone else was standing there with their arms crossed. "Where the hell were you two?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head blushing and laughed a bit nervously. Sakura nudged him in the side for making them look suspicious, "We were on theHokageMonument. Naruto was talking to me about training with him so that Mariko doesn't come out and level the village." Ino eyed her best friend suspiciously. When she read her mind, she knew she was telling the truth, however, she also found that they were talking about something a bit personal up there. Sakura flipped Ino the bird when she realized what her friend was doing and Ino just smirked. Naruto walked Sakura back down the stairs and everyone else followed. They stayed there until 5 in the morning. LadyTsunadehad to come and wake them up. She got angry when she saw that Naruto, Kiba, Ino, and Sakura had been drinking without her. "They are so going to get it later!"Tsunade punched the ground so as not to break anything, but to send vibrations up everyone's spines and have them waking up in fear. "SOMETHING'S CRAWLING UP MY BACK! SAI! GET THIS SHIT OFF ME!" Ino was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Hinata woke to see Naruto cuddled up with Sakura at the bar with Kiba's arms around both of them. She felt a pang of jealousy when she saw the content smiles on their this and sighed, "Something is about to go down... I can feel it," she thought as she continued to wake up everyone else.

**AN: UH OH! I just went to the doctor and got a full case of writer's block. LOL! Anyways, this chapter is thrown together until the next arc. For those of you who may not know what a Ninken is, it's basically a ninja hound. You know, like Akumaru and Pakkun and the rest of those dogs that's used by Kakashi and the Inuzuka clan that I don't know LOL! Hope you enjoyed! Until next time!**

**PS: I would like to personally thank the following users for PMing me about their suggestions and opinions!:**

**1\. Hanmac**

**2\. Vince Basile Jr**

**3\. Merchant of Blue Death**

**Thank you all, PMers and reviewers, the kind ones, for all that you do to help this old** **geriatric writer! LOL! JK! HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!**


	10. Chapter 11: A New Problem

Naruto was happy with the way life has been treating him so far. Hinata hasn't been pestering him about their relationship, which allowed him to focus on that more without hearing her complain about it all day. Boruto seemed to be warming up to him a bit more than he used to. Sarada... well... let's just say she looks at Naruto as more than an 'uncle'. He caught her calling him 'dad' or 'father' on more than a few occasions. He couldn't complain much though, even he slipped up and called Hiruzen Sarutobi his father before. With Sasuke not being a great father, Naruto was somewhat happy to over take that roll. Sakura has been doing a marvelous job with her training. He didn't expect less from her. After all, out of all of team 7, she performed the best when it came to chakra control. And for a jinchuriki, that was an IMPORTANT aspect that was needed for them to hold back a transformation.

Naruto smiled. Ever since that pep talk he gave her about 2 months ago when they left the party for the Hokage Monument, he was able to do better with his family issues. Not only was he able to dissolve that issue, but he was able to keep up with his Hokage training all the while. Sakura turned out to be a big help with it. She was able to share some of the experiences she'd have from being Tsunade's apprentice and from hearing different stories from Shizune. Sakura told Naruto about all the paperwork that Tsunade would have to do. It was mainly about the village's budget or about approving missions and stuff. He knew Tsunade probably burns most of the paper work if she doesn't feel like doing it.

Naruto was currently reading a few scrolls that Sakura had brought him from earlier that afternoon. She went off to go shopping with Ino and TenTen. Sarada was spending the night at ChoCho's house and Boruto was over at Shikamaru's place hanging out with Shikadai. Hinata was laying beside him, reading the scrolls over his shoulder. She took in a deep breath and then let out a heavy sigh, "Naruto- kun. I appreciate your dreams of becoming the Hokage, but do you ever, you know, take breaks between your studies? You've been at it for 8 hours straight!" Naruto huffed and gave Hinata an unbelievable look, "Come on Hinata! You know me! When have I EVER taken a break from achieving any of my goals?" Hinata chuckled a bit, "Well, you're right about that..." Naruto sighed and closed up his scroll. "You know what? Now that I think about it, I am pretty hungry. Wanna head out for some Ramen?" Hinata happily nodded and left the house with Naruto for lunch.

~~~X~~~

"SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO! REMIND ME TO NEVER GO CLOTHES SHOPPING WITH EITHER OF YOU EVER AGAIN," Sakura exclaimed. TenTen and Ino where trying to get her into an orange half top with the smallest pair of jean shorts she's ever seen. TenTen giggled, "Yeah right, you'd wear this to impress Naruto. I know he'd be ogling at you all day in this!" Sakura rolled her eyes. They'd been talking about her and Naruto ever since they caught them when they came back for their talk on the Hokage Monument. She tried in every way possible to convince them that they were just talking, but all Sakura would get in reply was a "yeah, sure" or "yeah, you two were 'talking' alright". Ino snickered and elbowed Sakura playfully in the side, "Yeah, I agree with TenTen. The way Naruto was all up on you that night at the party, I'd be damned if I said he didn't feel for you anymore."

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued to look through racks while TenTen and Ino kept fantasizing her and Naruto doing 'dirty things' together on the Hokage Monument. After they went shopping, Ino forced TenTen and Sakura into a near by BBQ restaurant. "Come on girls! All this shopping is making me hungry! Besides, TenTen, Lady Tsunade has assigned us a mission. We leave tonight." TenTen groaned while sitting down in a booth that they were assigned by a waiter, "I am so sore from all the training she signed me to last week! Can a woman get a break, PLEASE?!" Sakura chuckled at their bickering. When she noticed the waiter still standing there waiting on their drink orders, she told him to bring them all glasses of water.

The waiter soon returned with their water and asked for their orders. They all ordered rice with BBQ pork and chicken. Ino gave the pinkett at the table a sly smile while twirling her drink, "So, Sakura, what are you planning to do tonight with Naruto tonight?" Sakura nearly choked on her water while her face turned as red as a tomato, "WHAT?!" TenTen giggled, "I can't believe you haven't noticed his change in behavior since you returned. I guess we shouldn't be TOO surprised. When he went away for training, we noticed your attitude kind of dim a bit. Naruto was the same when you left. Yall both were looking depressed as hell. It's like you two can't live without each other. Sakura shook her head, "Well, we have been together for most of our lives, so- "

"So what, forehead? SPILL! I want you to tell us your deepest, DARKEST, MOST INTIMATE feelings you have for that big ball of sunshine! You can tell us anything and believe me, you seem to be holding in some type of shit you need to let out and we are your best friends. You can trust us!" Ino was right in some way. Sakura was holding in some feelings for a while. She just didn't think that they needed to be shared with anyone, not ever her best of friends.

"Okay, fine. But you have to keep this between us three, got that?" TenTen and Ino both nodded and leaned forward on the table like little girls waiting for gossip. Sakura scoffed and continued, "Good. So, it all started after Sasuke left the village. As you know, me and Naruto were the only two team members of Team 7 left and it kind of hit us hard when he decided to side with darkness."

"Yeah, nothing's harder than loosing a teammate," Ino looked a bit sad. She missed Asuma dearly.

"Sorry Ino, I wish I could've been there to heal him," Sakura took Ino's hands. "No, no, it's fine. Continue." Sakura nodded and continued to share her buried feelings. "Well, after Sasuke left the village, I heard from Tsunade about how Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, and Choji had left to get him. I nearly freaked out when shishou told me that they were probably going against some Sound Ninja. When they returned, I went to each of their rooms to check up on them. I was so happy that they were going to be okay. But, when I got to Naruto's room..."

TenTen rose her eyebrows at their fellow kunoichi, "What happened?" Sakura had a depressed expression on her face. "When he told me that he failed to bring back Sasuke, I was disappointed, of course. But, I was also happy that he was okay. Naruto kept trying to cheer me up by saying he'd never go back on his word and that he'd keep trying. It was then that I noticed that he shouldn't have to do it by himself. That was the day that I gained enough confidence to ask Tsunade shishou to train me. We were all fine back then, but the real emotions didn't hit me until after he returned with Jiraiya- sama."

Sakura took a sip of her drink and continued, "When he returned, we got Sai and Captain Yamato on our team to replace Kakashi and Sasuke. I told Lady Tsunade about what Sasori told me before he died about a spy he had that was to meet him at the Heaven and Earth Bridge. We got there and the mission was going perfectly until Kabuto noticed the flaw in Yamato's transformation jutsu. Since Sasori was a puppet user, it was strange to Kabuto that he would pull out a kunai instead of preparing his puppet weapons. Our cover was blown when Orochimaru appeared and that's when Naruto went four- tails to fight. It wasn't until later when Yamato told me that Naruto was by then unconscious of his actions that I realized by mistakes. I let my emotions get the best of me and tried to calm Naruto down myself. I even went as far as telling him that I'd save Sasuke myself. I was tired of seeing Naruto risk his life for me when his own life was at danger. Yamato was able to calm him down with his wood style jutsu. I asked him if he could teach me the jutsu, because the things I can do for Naruto were small and unnecessary, but he said he couldn't because only he could use the technique. He then said that it didn't matter the size of the things that I do, but what mattered most were the feelings I had for him."

By now, Ino and TenTen were crying like teens watching a romance movie. "That is so sweet! Ino! Pass me those Kleenex!" Sakura giggled and continued, "That's not all. Later, in the Land of Iron, I was told by Sai that Naruto indeed loved me. I cried about it because I was coming to terms with how wrong it was for me to put those heavy burdens on him. He definitely didn't deserve it, so I decided to do something about it. I got Sai, Kiba, and Lee to leave the village with me and go to the Land of Iron to 'confess' to him. It turned out to be a failure, so I ordered Kiba to track down Sasuke for me. I was, a bit shocked that the plan didn't work. But, I did feel more terrible than I already was when I realized that I basically toyed with his feelings- "

"WHAT THE FUCK SAKURA! I THOUGHT HE WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND!" Ino smacked TenTen up side the head, "Shut up woman! Sakura wasn't that 'smart in the heart' when it came to her feelings back then." Sakura glared at both of them, "HEY! I wasn't all that hurtful! Do you two know how much confusion I was in? Picture this: Your childhood crush turned evil. Not only that, but he never acknowledged you and even tried to kill you! But then there's this other guy, who'd do anything and everything just to see you smile. Someone reveals to you that the other guy LOVES you. Now, you're torn between your feelings for the guy you have a crush on, and the guy who actually loves you." Ino nodded in understanding, "Yeah, that is pretty hard." Sakura's eyes watered up, "And then you still feel absolutely terrible for liking the guy who never loved you, still, after knowing that the one who loved you is and will always be there for you." TenTen rubbed Sakura's hand, "Shhh, it's going to be alright. I mean, come on Sakura! We're talking Naruto here! Kiba told me that after you 'hurt' him, he still came and rescued your behind when you were trying to kill Sasuke!"

Ino nodded, "Yeah, Naruto can get mad at you all he wants. But you two have a bond that is beyond inseparable. When he found out you were pregnant with Sasuke's child, he was happy for you two. He was a bit hurt, but he was happy as hell, running around the village yelling 'I'm gonna be a freaking uncle', and yada yada yat." TenTen giggled, "He never stopped loving you Sakura, and we all know that he never will stop loving you. You're too important to him for that to be possible." Sakura sniffed and wiped away her tears, "What's up with you two. You guys aren't always this sympathetic." Ino giggled, "We have to be soft for our friends, Sakura. Especially with this situation. This is a serious matter. You obviously still have feelings for Naruto. And we're going to help you through it. First step of the process let's get the hell out of here and go to the hot springs! RELAXATION IS KEY!" Sakura laughed at Ino's goofiness. She was extremely grateful for having such good friends. She knew that they were perfect friends for her if they could help her through her toughest emotions, and Kami knows that she definitely needed it.

~~~X~~~

Hinata watched Naruto slurp down his noodles in an uncomfortable silence. She never liked it when he was like this. Usually, Naruto would pour his heart out to her and she'd help in the best way she could. What was worst was than he wasn't even finish with his first bowl. And he could eat ramen for days without getting full. "Naruto- kun? Something's bothering you?" Naruto barely acknowledged her with a grunt before continuing to play around with his chopsticks. After a few minutes, Naruto finally snapped out of it. "Sorry Hinata, I was just thinking, what were your dreams in life?"

Hinata smiled a bit," Well, I've always admired you from a distance. I've always held high hopes for you in your life and I was wishing that you'd succeed in life, like you are now. As I grew older, so did my feelings for you. I went from admiration to actually loving you. I knew after a while that I wanted to always be by your side. And I wanted you to accept my feelings for a long time. I was a bit hurt when you didn't return my feelings back when I defended you against Pain. But, I was happy for you when Sakura finally showed some affection to you- "

"You don't know what you're talking about," Naruto started. "Sakura has always showed some type of affection to me. Maybe it wasn't gentle like the affection you show, but she was never that type of girl. She was more of the 'tough love' type." Hinata nodded. Though she didn't want to admit it, Hinata knew that deep down, Sakura had always cared about Naruto in some type of way. She remembered Naruto telling her about how she was like his mother. Naruto said that Kakashi told him about how Kushina could be sweet one moment, and a badass the next, like how she was so hard on Obito, but it turned out that Obito was indeed her favorite, whether she admitted it or not. Hinata knew that she could only dream of being the woman Sakura was, and that made her blood boil.

"I'm sorry. I know that Sakura was really important to you."

"And she still is."

"Tell me, Naruto, because sometimes it just crosses my mind. How do you feel about Sakura?"

Naruto's cheeks felt like they were getting warm. He could feel himself blushing. His feelings for Sakura was a sensitive topic because he made sure to bury his feelings down for his teammate. "I... well... I... She's my best friend, Hinata. We always look out for each other and stuff. It's funny actually, she's the one who would beat me every time I did something stupid or when I got myself into danger. Kind of like how Temari beats Shikadai every time he does something outrageous. Then right afterwards, she'd heal me and one time, she accepted my offer on a date with her. Well, she did that a lot after Sasuke left. I understood her pain, Sasuke was very close to both of us. But we always understand each other. I can read her like a book and same with her to me. I guess you could say that I love her... a-as a fr- friend I mean!" Naruto looked away, his cheeks burning even more. Hinata sighed and started to poke around at her ramen. She wasn't stupid, she knew that when Sakura returned to the village, that's when Naruto's feelings returned. But she was planning to keep Sakura a way, without ruining their friendship. She just wanted some time to get Naruto's attention back on her, which was going to be hard for them to do since the same girl her boyfriend has a crush on is the same girl who lives with them!

They paid for their meals and headed out to walk in the park. "How did you feel about Sakura before Sasuke left?" Naruto smiled, "I still felt the same for her. Though, I do think that before Sasuke left, my love for her was really just a crush. But when I returned from training with Pervy Sage, I noticed her growth as a ninja, and I had every desperate need to protect her. Before Sasuke left, I just wanted her to be happy, so I stepped a bit from her and Sasuke to give them time. Of course, Sasuke didn't acknowledge her, so when he let her down, I asked her out or tried to cheer her up. It only worked on a few occasions though. Sometimes, she'll get mad if I did that," Naruto laughed. "But other than that, Sakura's really a wonderful person if you get to know her well." Hinata watched as his expression went from defensive to loving. Some part of her knew that it was not her place to ask Naruto about Sakura's 'treating' of him when they were younger. She just wishes that Naruto would focus more on how the pinkett treated him from the start. But then again, people change as time progresses and bonds grow stronger.

~~~X~~~

Soon, Naruto and Hinata started to head home. On their way throughout the streets of Konoha, they both paused and looked at the scene before them. "Oh Kami NOT NOW!" Naruto said as he ran over to the 'problem' that was occurring before their eyes.

Sakura was on all fours growling at Sai. Her eyes were blank white and her Byakugou diamond that marked her as Tsunade's pupil was glowing white with her eyes. She had 3 fluffy pink tails coming from right at the bottom of her tail bone. She had 3 whisker marks on each side of her cheeks and had fangs coming from the sides of her mouth. "Wanna say that again, Sai- kun?" Sakura said creepily innocently. The artistic ninja gulped and hid behind Ino, who had her arms crossed while blowing her bang from her face. "Sai! What did I tell you about calling Sakura ugly? You know that she'll kill you in an instant!" Sakura growled and positioned herself like she was about to pounce on her prey. As soon as she jumped, Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist and held her to him like a child would hold a street cat.

"Hey, hey! Calm down Sakura- chan!" Naruto yelled as she began kicking and clawing the air, still growling at Sai. Naruto sighed, "Ino, take Sai home and away from Sakura's sight. Ino nodded and grabbed poor Sai by the ear and drug him back to the Yamanaka compound.

"YOU IDIOT! MY KILL IS GETTING AWAY!" Sakura bellowed in a feminine demonic voice that would've made Naruto's knees weak had it not been for her situation being dangerous. "Listen Sakura, you know well that I want to kill Sai just as bad as you do, but we can't. He's on our team. You said so yourself when you wouldn't let me kill him or Sora." Sakura snapped her head around and stared her blank white eyes into his darkening cerulean ones. She kept growling softly as Naruto began to carry her back to their house, grateful that there weren't any villagers out that night. He signaled Hinata to carefully follow him. He knew that Sakura was still dominant over him and would threaten any female that so far as glanced his direction when Mariko began to leak out. Sure, they had been making beautiful process with their training, but Sakura had some strong emotional control issues that would sometimes cause her to go on a rampage. When Sakura was feeling down or was extremely frustrated, Naruto would take her out to a clearing in the woods and let her vent. Of course, Yamato and Kakashi were there just in case things got out of hand.

When they arrived home, Sakura was still miffed about Sai's 'sly' comment earlier. Her eyes were now plain red slits like how Naruto's eyes would go, and her diamond was back to its purple color. Naruto stared at her in curiosity as she continued to mumble incoherent curses under her breath. The blonde hokage to be sighed and sat next to her on her bed, "What exactly happened back there?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

*Flashback*

TenTen waved her two friends good bye as Ino began to walk Sakura home. "Thank you for everything Ino, I definitely needed that little 'escape from reality'. And thank you for helping me sort out my feelings. UGH! I look like a grown ass woman, yet, I have the emotional understanding of a toddler!"

Ino chuckled, "Oh Sakura. That's what friends are for! Besides, I knew from the moment Naruto some how 'awakened' your inner personality during the Chunnin Exams that you two had some type of special bond. I mean really, the entire village would be damned if they didn't think that you two acted like an old married couple."

Sakura laughed, "Yeah, I got that a lot from Tsunade- sama and Kakashi- sensei. But I honestly believe that Naruto unleashed my inner because of his annoying habits that would cause me to awaken the inner. Maybe, his voice was a boost of motivation of some sort. I really and truly don't know why myself." The two-best friends gave a good-hearted laugh and continued on. They ran into Sai on the way.

"Oh, hello beautiful. Hello, Ugly. Sakura gave Sai that same smile she did the first time he called her that. Ino, knowing her friend for so long, immediately saw the problem. However, before she could do anything to save her husband. Sai was violently punched all the way to the front gates of the village, AND THEY WERE BY THE HOKAGE TOWER! Sakura had transformed into her 3 tailed state and her eyes were in red slits. "What was that? Sai- kuuuun, I don't think I heard you loud enough. Could you please repeat that?" Sakura said cutely. Ino slowly stepped back. She was planned on alerting Naruto, but she saw him walking with Hinata in the distance near their location. Sai teleported out of the way when Sakura lashed out at him again, landing near Ino in fear.

This action caused Sakura to grow even more irritated. She unleashed her Ultimate Byakugou and ran back towards the bleached ninja on all fours. She slid to a stop when she was a mere 2 feet away from him. "Oh Saaaaiiiii- kuuuuuun. Please play with me?" Sai nearly fainted from Sakura's demonic pleading. He sighed in relief when he saw Naruto approach her. "Wanna say that again, Sai- kun? Sai cringed as Sakrua raised her elongated finger nails in the air to slash him in the face, that is until Naruto came to save his life. When Naruto told Ino to take him away, Ino grabbed Sai and they both ran like hell back to the Yamanaka compound.

*End Flashback*

Naruto laughed at the whole story. "Sakura- chan! What have I told you about letting boys get to you?" Sakura sneered at him, "Well, I let 'you' get to me!" Naruto petted her whiskered cheeks, causing her to purr cutely against his lap. "Arrrgh, Naruto! Stooop thaaat... ooooooohhhh!" Sakura moaned. Naruto chuckled as her whisker marks slowly started to fade away from her silky-smooth cheeks and her eye color went back to its original emerald green hue. Sakura's fluffy tails brushed against Naruto's legs. "Hey! Put those things away!" Sakura laughed. That was one thing she was able to control. She could let out to 5 tails without having Yamato interfere. Shee smiled when she brushed them against his nose. "EEHHH! SAKURA- CHAAAAN!" Naruto wined.

Sakura giggled cutely and climbed off his lap. "Alright, alright! I'm sure Hinata wants some attention too!" Hinata, who was watching the entire time, blushed a bit. Sakura swayed her tails around, walking up to Sarada's room to see if she was there. "Hey! I told you to put your tails away!" Sakura playfully pouted before laughing purposely in a menacing way. Naruto growled and ran behind her. Sakura continued laughing and ran into Sarada's room. She found Sarada laying on the bed with earbuds in. Naruto busted in through the doors behind Sakura, causing Sarada to gasp in fear and blush when she sees that she was caught.

"Mom? Naruto? What are you doing in here?" Sakura growled at Naruto, "You just couldn't help but to spoil her, couldn't you?" Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Well, I still spoil you a lot. Awww! Sakura- chan, do you want me to spoil you some more?" Sakura turned red as a tomato before she punched him in the gut to land on the wall opposite of Sarada's door frame. "Naruto- kun!" Hinata shouted when she finally got up the stair. Sarada smirked, "I appreciate you strength mom, but if you want Naruto like that, then just ask him. You don't have to punch a dude you like. Though Sai told me that that's what women do to men they like, and that they show their strength around them too." Sakura whipped her head around, "Who told you that now, Sarada?" Sakura eyes were twitching crazily. Sarada gulped a bit, "Ummm, Uncle Sai." Sarada cracked her knuckles and headed out of her daughter's room. Naruto finally woke up, cringing a bit as Kurama began to slowly heal the sore spot on his stomach.

"KIT! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SETTING HER OFF! YOU COULD SERIOUSLY ACTIVATE MARIKO'S CHAKRA AND SHE WON'T BE AFTER YOU, BUT ME!" Naruto smirked, "What? Are you scared of your own 'girlfriend'," Naruto teased. Kurama scoffed and turned his head, "You might wanna go catch your Queen of Fists. If I'm not mistaking, she's going to go kill Sai." Naruto growled as Kurama laughed loudly in the pit of his stomach. He rolled his eyes and grabbed Sarada and Hinata and ran out the door.

~~~X~~~

Naruto walked calmly down the road from his house. He had to sneak out because Sakura was still trying to 'kill' him for 'stopping her mission' to the Yamanaka compound. Boruto didn't get home till late last night because he was out with Inojin and Shikadai. All three of them got a good scolding from their moms. As he continued down his path on the back alleys to avoid the 'fan girls' and other people he didn't feel like talking about, an ANBU in a black cloak appeared in front of him. "Naruto, you have been summoned to the Hyuga housing." Naruto immediately recognized the voice and smiled, "You know, Neji, if you wanna hang out, all you had to do was ask. You know... 'normally'." Neji scoffed, "I'm heading out on a mission soon and my uncle told me to come and get you before you leave." Naruto gulped. Neji's uncle was Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyuga.

Neji, feeling his uneasiness, walked forward and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, you won't be there alone. I'll come with you." Naruto nodded and they headed towards the Hyuga compound.

Naruto walked down the long patio till Neji opened a door to which Hiashi was standing by a coffee table. "Come on in, Mr. Uzumaki." Neji cringed. He knew something was up with his uncle. He never called Naruto formally before. He closed the door behind Naruto and left a shadow clone to snoop in on the conversation while he went off on his S- Rank mission.

"Hello, Mr. Hiashi-"

"Please, just call me Hiashi."

Naruto had it, something was definitely not right. "Okay, what's going on here?" Hiashi chuckled. "Oh nothing, but, I do need to discuss some matters with you."

Naruto sat down on in a chair across from Hiashi. He took a sip of the tea on the table and offered some to Naruto, to which he cautiously accepted. "So, Naruto, how has your relationship with Hinata been going?" Naruto gulped a bit. "Well, we crossed quite a few bumpy roads, but we're doing fine now. It's funny actually, she's been a bit 'over- protective' of me since Sakura- chan returned."

Hiashi's eyes widened in shock. "S- Sa- Sakura. Ms. Haruno returned to the village?" Naruto nodded, "It's a good thing she did too. You see, she ran into a little 'issue', but she didn't know about it until a few days or so after she returned." Hiashi looked to him curiously, "What do you mean by an 'issue'?" Naruto gulped a bit and answered, "I don't think that I'm authorized to tell you that. You'll have to ask Sakura herself, better yet, I think you'd need to go see granny Tsunade to get that information."

"I see..." Hiashi was a bit curious as to why the pink haired kunoichi had returned with a 'problem', but he was also well aware of the fact that Sakura was the woman who Naruto once had a crush on. That could wind up problems in the future if he didn't put a stop to it. "I'm sorry if this seems a bit rushed, but, Naruto, have you ever thought or started planning about a possible proposal yet?"

Naruto chocked on his drink, causing him to spit some back up. He wiped his mouth and looked at the Hyuga clan leader like he was crazy. "Uummmm, well... I- It crossed my mind a while ago bu-"

"But what? You two have been together for over 12 years! And on top of that, you have a son!" Hiashi said uncharacteristically cheerfully.

"Yeah, but... ugh... Listen Hiashi. I love your daughter, I really do. She's everthing a man could want. Bu-"

"Are you nervous?"

"No-"

"Did she do something wrong?"

"No-"

"Then what is it?" Naruto remained quiet. He knew that Hinata was a sweet girl, and he wanted to love her. Kami knows she deserved it. But, he just couldn't put his heart into loving her pure soul. Hiashi sighed and pulled out a small velvet box and handed to Naruto. Naruto took the box and opened it, gasping in shock when he saw the most expensive wedding ring he'd ever known existed! "Hi- Hiashi- sama!"

"That ring is the traditional engagement ring of the Hyuga's upper branch. That ring has been passed passed down through the past matriarchs of the family. I'm sure you'd love to see the look of joy on Hinata's face when you step down on one knee and pull that box out."

"But, Hiashi- sama, I can't take this-"

"Of course you can! But, be sure to propose soon though. With your type of 'history' and the bounty that's placed on your head, it may be a responsible idea to do it before you become hokage. They say Hokages with wives or husbands are more respected than those who were without them."

Naruto reluctantly placed the small box in his pocket and stood to go when Hiashi grabbed his shoulder, "Just make Hinata proud. I understand that she wasn't much when she was younger, but she has become a full-grown woman now. You should take this marriage seriously and take her emotions into consideration."

Naruto nodded and teleported back outside of theHyugacompound.Neji'sclone cursed under his breath and dispersed, causingNejito learn everythingHiashihad said. "Damn it! So that's his plan?" He said as he continued to jump trees with his team to their mission location.

**AN: Soooo... yep! That's the new problem. Neji will be playing an important role in this arc. I straight up LOVE NEJI and his death was probably one of the most ****UNNECESSARY**** deaths in the show. I mean, COME ON PEOPLE! FOR A NARUHINA MOMENT? Anyways... This chapter is short for a reason(s):**

**A: I didn't feel like typing this chapter**

**B: If I continued, the chapter would seem like it did a WHOLE time jump that needed explaining.**

**C and most importantly: NUNYA GOD DAMN BEEZ WAX! LOL**

**Anyways, thanks for the 'kind' reviews and I will see yall laters!**


	11. Chapter 12: Help Me?

Sakura finished fixing her hair and getting dressed for the day in her bedroom. "Dang it! I need a hair cut-"

"No you don't!"

Sakura gasped and turned around to see Naruto standing in her doorway. She smiled and turned back away from the blonde jinchuriki. "What? Do I look ugly with long hair?" Naruto turned red as a tomato and looked away, "Um.. No-"

"Naruto, you can be honest with me."

"You look beautiful with log hair. You look beautiful the way you are." Sakura blushed. "Okay, what do you want Naruto? You usually don't compliment me like this."

Naruto now had steam coming from his ears like he was a freight train. "Let's go Sakura! I need to talk to you." Naruto walked up and grabbed Sakura rather harshly and they teleported back towards the Hokage Monument.

Sakura placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side, "What's wrong with you? My hips hurt now! Is it because of what I said." Naruto grunted and blushed again, turning his head to the side, "Yes, I always compliment you! You're beautiful Sakura-chan, don't let anyone else tell you other wise!" Sakura blushed a bit and turned her head away from his tempting cerulean eyes. "Anyways, that's not the point, Sakura- chan. I need to discuss something more serious."

Sakura looked to him and walked closer, "What's wrong?"

"Sakura- chan, as you know, me and Hinata has been 'dating' for over 12 years now." Sakura didn't like him not getting to the point. It was frustrating her, especially since he didn't look happy about whatever he was getting at, "Yes, Naruto, I know. Now get to the point!"

"Hi- Hiashi thinks that it would be a good idea for me to take our relationship to the next level." Sakura's eyes widened, "That's great Naruto! I'm sure you two would look beautiful being together at that level. I'd say it's about time though-"

"Sakura- chan-"

"Of course, we'd have to plan everything out and stuff. Oooo! What colors do you think would be good for a theme at the wedding-"

"Sakura-"

"And yall get hitched under the cherry blossom trees, or, or, the um... OOH! The Hokage tower, or this nice waterfall that Captain Yamato just recently created, or-"

"SAKURA!"

"WHAT?!"

"Can you just... LISTEN! For one moment please?" Sakura huffed in annoyance. To think that he'd be happy about the whole situation. "I- I don't think that I can go through with this."

Sakura immediately through all her other words aside and placed her hands on Naruto's shoulders, "Why not? Come on, open up! I promise to keep my mouth shut this time." She gasped a bit when she felt Naruto shuddering and looked up to see him crying. "Naruto?"

"I love Hinata, I do. But, marriage? Sakura- chan, I can't just 'marry' her! We had too many falling outs these past few months. I mean, sure, we've been getting better, but we are still a bit shaky from our fights." Sakura wiped his tears away, "It's okay, Naruto. I mean, you don't have to marry her right away-"

"NO! There's a ceremony for me in 2 months for the Hokage selections. Right now, I'm the top pick. Hiashi said that hokages earn more respect if they have wives-"

"FUCK WHAT HIASHI SAYS!" Naruto was a bit taken aback by her sudden outbursts. He couldn't be too surprised though, he already told her about how he's having his doubts about dating Hinata. "I mean, look! Lady Tsunade doesn't have a husband! She earns more respect than some of the main war heroes! And look at you! You're already a war hero!. Hiashi can't just up and but his nose into other's business! Heck, he couldn't even appreciate his own damn daughter when she was younger. He has no right to tell you what's best. If you needed a wife, Lady Tsunade or me myself would've told you so. I don't know what he's planning, but he can drop it real quick fast and in a hurry! You don't need a wife to gain popularity of being a hokage! Don't let Hiashi get in the way of your dreams Naruto. You've wanted to become hokage since before I even met you. I'll be damned if I let him get in the way of my best friend's dreams."

Naruto chuckled a bit at her last remark, "Right, I can always count on you to 'mother' me." Sakura huffed and rolled her eyes. "Well, someone has to do it." Naruto stared at his mother's hair clip in Sakura's hair. If only her hair was dyed red and her eyes were a navy blue like shade, she'd be his mother. He snorted a bit, "Shoot, she already has the temper of a Uzumaki." Sakura blushed under Naruto's stare, "Um... what are you staring at? You're creeping me out! *sighs* This is what I get for helping you! You get all fucked up in the head-"

"No, thanks for the support, Sakura- chan!" Naruto smiled and teleported them back to their house. Naruto gave her a big bear hug before rushing out the house. Sakura stood there with her hair all messed up again from his 'stupid' hugs. "Grrr! Naruto! I just finished this!" She smiled and turned back to her mirror. Sure, she was glad to help, but to think he'd learn a thing or two from dating Hinata after all these years.

~~~X~~~

"Sir, a report from one of our spies!"

"Come on in!"

A member from the Hyuga's spy squad came in with a recordable ear peace that was attached to one of his teammate's ears. Hiashi replayed the audio on it and smiled evilly, "Hoheto, assign me an appointment with Lady Tsunade for tomorrow evening." The Hyuga jonin nodded and teleported to Tsunade's office in the Hokage tower.

"So she thinks she can speak like that, eh? Well then, that is a high level of disrespect, but until I talk with the Hokage, I can't touch her. Especially since she's Lady Tsunade's apprentice too," Hiashi thought, "I better find out what's up with her 'condition'. Sakura can be in the way of my daughter's dreams. I need to step in and do something!"

To be honest, he never really liked the pink haired medic nin. She'd always be doing something bratty and worst of all, she had caught the eyes of his daughter's crush. Sure, Hiashi may not have completely 'approved' of his daughter before, but as she grew stronger, he finally decided that she had a right to be a Hyuga.

He doesn't too much approve of Naruto either. He's loud and obnoxious. Hyuga's are more boujee and they stay quiet and to themselves most of the time. However, though it was pretty greedy, Naruto was an Uzumaki. And where Uzumaki known for? Their stupendous amounts of chakra and their special sealing abilities. Though, he doubts Naruto knew any. On top of all that, Naruto was the jinchuriki of the strongest tailed beast! He couldn't let Naruto slip through his fingers. The clan needed more power in the upper branch.

With that thought in mind, Hiashi wore a sad face, remembering what happened to his nephew's father, his twin, Hizashi Hyuga. He really didn't want his brother to go the way he did. He didn't like the way that their clans were separated, but that was just to balance the power. Who knows what would happen if he stopped the Caged Bird Seal routine? There were still a few Hyugas in the lower branch who held a grudge against him for it, he would just have to find a way to please them for now.

Hiashi threw the thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand. "My daughter deserves happiness! Especially after everything I put her through! I won't fail Hinata, I promise!"

~~~X~~~

A pink haired medic nin left for one of her friend's house. She just recently left a weird mission discussion with Lady Tsunade. Sakura pondered everything that had happened there while heading towards TenTen's shop.

*Flashback*

Sakura finished getting dressed and left Naruto's house to head over to her mentor's office. When she arrived, Tsunade had a stern look on her face, indicating that she was being serious.

"How are you, Sakura?"

"I'm well shishou, and you?"

"I'm fine. I've summoned you here for a mission debriefing, but I need to firstly know, how have you been with your training?"

Sakura let the question sink in before answering, "It's been going well. Naruto and Killer Bee have been really resourceful. Kakashi and Captain Yamato said that the whole ordeal shouldn't be that big of an issue since I have extremely high levels of chakra control since I did when I was a genin. Mariko is being a little 'nice', but that's because Naruto said that he bonded with Kurama, so some of Kurama's 'niceness' transmitted to Mariko when her chakra first came in me. Well, something like that. But overall, I'm good to go, as long as my emotions don't go haywire."

Tsunade smiled. She always knew that Sakura could overcome this. However, she was still afraid to make it go public, even if Sakura had wanted it to. She knew well of how the villagers treated Naruto and even he's afraid of letting out the news as well. Though, he threatened to beat the crap out of anyone who even looked at her the wrong way. "That's awesome news, Sakura! I am so very, very proud of you! I always knew that you could accomplish this task!"

Sakura smiled and bowed, "Thank you, Tsunade- shishou." Tsunade's face fell a bit, but not completely, "However, I still think that you should keep your new chakra a secret. If you wind up using it against you enemies, make sure they die immediately afterwards. We can't have other countries know that we have two jinchurikis on our hands. The Land of Lightning had two, Yugito and Killer Bee. However, Yugito was caught by Hidan and Kakuzu."

"But that doesn't defeat the fact that they had two jinchuriki in their nation, right?"

"Correct again, Sakura, but we still have to be cautious about all of this, for it could start a 5th Great Ninja War."

Sakura nodded. She didn't want the news out anyways. However, she did have one question in mind, "Lady Tsunade, if I were to die, were would Mariko go?"

Tsunade frowned at the question. She didn't want to think about her precious pupil dying, but it was a question that was in her concern. "According to Naruto, he said that Kurama said that she would just come back to him, since tailed beasts were nothing but pure chakra anyways."

Sakura nodded and Lady Tsunade was about to get into the debriefing when a Hyuga ninja appeared in front of her desk. "I am so sorry for the interruption, but Lord Hiashi would like to have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow evening. In fact, I think it has some matters to do with her," Hoheto said, pointing at Sakura. Tsunade cursed under her breath and sighed, "Fine! Tell him that I shall be free around 9pm tomorrow evening. I'm pretty busy at the moment, but he'll understand." Hoheto nodded and took the note from Tsunade and teleported back to the Hyuga compound.

"DAMN IT! THEIR ALREADY ON TO US!" Tsunade nearly created a huge crack in her desk, had it not been for her remembering that she was tired of buying new ones. Sakura sweat dropped, "Uhhh... Tsunade- shishou, I think that it's fine. We shouldn't worry much- "

"You should worry much,"

Sakura jumped and squealed when Neji appeared in front of her. Tsunade huffed in annoyance, "How many Hyugas are going to come in here and tick me off today?! Neji looked offended a bit, "I'm sorry for dropping in, here's the mission report." Tsunade realized who it was and quickly apologized, "I am so sorry, Neji. Hoheto just came in a second ago and informed me that your uncle wants to have 'a talk' with me that has a possibility of it dealing with Sakura." Neji's expression turned serious, "That's exactly what I meant by 'you should worry much'. I sent a clone to spy on the conversation Lord Hiashi had with Naruto earlier on today. Hiashi was basically forcing Hinata- chan to Naruto. I could tell that Naruto seemed nervous, but I kind of already have a feeling of what he plans on doing."

Tsunade beckoned for him to continue and Sakura stepped up to pay close attention as well. Neji continued, "Well, as far as I know, Hiashi has been a bit 'greedy for power' recently. Naruto, being an Uzumaki, has TONS of chakra reserves. Which means, if Naruto were to marry and reproduce with Hinata, then that would make the upper branch of the clan more powerful. Not only is that a disaster by itself, but he seemed a bit disgusted when Naruto informed him of Sakura's return to the village. I think he knows of Naruto's crush on Sakura when they were younger and he feels that by her being back to the village, it could stir up some old emotions he once had for Sakura."

"Hiashi is somewhat right," Sakura said, "Me and Naruto have been spending a lot of time together, and I wouldn't want to get in the way of that-"

"And I wouldn't want my father and cousin to get in between you and Naruto's bond. You two are an unstoppable pair, and I'd hate for them to get in the way of it because of my uncle's assumptions. I'm not asking to betray my clan, but I want to help with what's right."

Tsunade smiled, "Thank you, Neji. Just think of this as a 'personal favor' from the Hokage. It's nothing that's 'governmentally' important, so let's not make this a public issue. The last thing we need is a group of biased protesters at our doorsteps every morning trying to add their two cents into the drama."

Neji nodded, "I'll go see what I can do as far as 'spying' goes, thank you, Lady Tsunade, for listening." Neji teleported back to the Hyuga compound to prepare for his 'mission'. Tsunade turned her attention back to her pink haired apprentice in the room, "Right, about that mission, you are to go as a medical ninja with a team of ANBU to the Grass Village. One of my men sent a messenger pigeon yesterday about suspicious activity going on before he died. We can't perform an autopsy because ANBUs don't leave behind corpses. It's too risky to do so, so you don't have to worry about how he died exactly. The mission itself should take around two to three days itself, if everything goes according to plan. Your mission is to report any strange activity you find while in the Grass Village. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Hai! I won't fail, Tsunade- shishou!" Sakura said proudly. She hasn't been allowed on missions outside the village lately because of her 'condition', but now, she feels better about her securities of the Vixen spirit within her. Lady Tsunade nodded in approval, "Oh, and about that 'favor', make sure that the mission stays between you, me, and Neji. We don't need other Hyugas or even Naruto butting in to the situation. That would cause an alert in the council for us being 'biased'. We know how Naruto feels and we are just doing our best to protect him. We owe it to him after everything he's done for us." Sakura nodded in agreement and said, "Will there be anything that I am going to need for this mission?" Tsunade pulled out a scroll and handed it over to Sakura.

"These are a few weapons that I want you to pick up from TenTen's weapon shop. Don't worry about the expenses, I've already taken care of that as well as the other mission's supplies." Sakura bowed and took her leave. Right when she reached the door knob, Tsunade called back out to her, "And Sakura... please... be careful. The last thing we want is the other nations on our tail for what you possess. Oh… and your mission will start next Thursday." Sakura nodded and left the Hokage office.

*End Flashback*

Sakura reached TenTen's shop and pulled back the huge banners that covered the entrance. When TenTen looked up, she seemed ecstatic to see one of her best friends visit her. "Well, well... look who finally decided to visit this old soul!" Sakura chuckled and walked up to the weapon specialist's front desk. The space was well organized, unlike other weapon shops Sakura had visited. She suggested that it was because for one, TenTen was a female, unlike other weapon shops that were usually ran by men. And add the fact that TenTen couldn't stand messes. She always kept her work space clean and organized. She remembered TenTen yelling at Lee for leaving his sweated bandages all over her floor when they were over her house for a drink. The shop itself had polished wooden floors and all the ordinary weapons were placed neatly on shelves with special tags wrapped around them. If TenTen were to catch a customer trying to steal or use the weapon for their own 'evil' defense, she'd just simply perform a tiger seal and the tag would send a powerful electric shock through the intruder. A part of TenTen sort of wished people would do that often, it was funny to watch them twitch around on the floor.

Behind the front desk were specialized weapons that were set for a higher price. These weapons were only available for jonins or any ninja that Tsunade said they went to.

Sakura handed TenTen Lady Tsunade's note and she looked up at Sakura with worried eyes. "Are you sure you're up for this? Is there someone going with you to keep 'her' on check?" Sakura shook her head no, "No, TenTen, I told Tsunade- shishou that I should be fine for this mission. My excellent levels of chakra control have really been beneficial for my 'condition'. Right now, I should be fine on my own. But I am only going as a medical nin to help out a few other ANBU. Don't worry TenTen, I've got this under control!" TenTen smiled, she completely trusted Sakura's word. After all, she has accomplished more than any other kunoichi from their class. TenTen admired Sakura for this. She was also a role model for those who don't come from a blood limit clan. This was HUGE! Especially since a lot of 'unprivileged' academy students begun to drop out after the experience of the 4th Great Ninja War. Sakura has inspired a lot of those students, and even went as far as opening up hospitals for those whose minds were broken from the war. TenTen happened to be one of them. That Infinite Tsukuyomi took its toll on everyone. They were trapped in a world where everything seemed like happiness and wonderland, then they were snatched back to reality were dead comrades lay battered and some ripped apart. Talk about a HUGE psychological shift.

"Right, I couldn't expect less from you, Sakura." Sakura blushed a bit while TenTen turned around to get the weapons that Tsunade assigned. Sakura received three special looking kunai and a beautifully designed katana that had a pink blade and a black handle that was decorated with red gems. Sakura gaped in amazement as she examined the weapon. "Now, these kunai are barrier kunai. If you throw them to land in the shape of a triangle, then a barrier will appear, but wait there's more!"

"Since you have two chakra natures, all you have to do is add a bit of your chakra into one of the kunai's tags, and depending on which chakra nature you added, with you having Earth and water, the enemy trapped within the barrier will either get crushed by rock or drown to death by water. Or, you could turn them into stone or make their body fill with water until it burst! Or, you could-"

"TenTen! That's gross!" Sakura shouted, imitating a gag while her brown- haired friend banged the counter laughing like there was no tomorrow. Sakura smirked, "Well... I'll have to give you that much. It all depends on how bad the enemy frustrates me if I were to battle them." TenTen laughed some more and soon, her expression turned a bit serious, "Now, listen up! You are not to lose these kunai. This is a new kunai I just developed a while back and I trust them in your care. Kakashi has already been pestering me about making him some, and I am all worn out. It's not an easy process. All I'm saying is, be careful. Those took too much time to make and if they fall into the wrong hands, who knows what they'll develop it into." Sakura nodded, "Don't worry! I keep my kunai in 'special' places anyways. There's no way in hell they'd get that close to me!" TenTen cringed, "Ugh! TMI Sakura!" Sakura laughed, "You think so negative! I was talking about my bra or the kunai pouch that I keep around my waist and thighs!"

TenTen sighed in relief. "Well, you've developed a bit in the 'boom' area. Don't you worry about cutting them?" Sakura laughed again, "You're right, I suppose I could hide the kunai in my-"

"You know what? Moving on! Here, the katana is yours to keep. I had it costumed by a dear blacksmith of mine. She's a tough gal. I tried not to make it too girly, but I just thought it would complement your bubblegum pink hair." Sakura blushed again, "Wow, thanks TenTen! I will take good care of these weapons." TenTen waved good bye to her fellow kunoichi and sat back to relax. She was trying to cool off in and she got up to turn on the huge ceiling fan and sat back down. She rolled her eyes when she sensed a certain someone's presence.

"Damn it Kakashi- sempai! I told you that the kunais weren't ready yet! I'm working on them!" Kakashi chuckled and came out of his hiding spot. "So, Sakura's going on a mission already?" TenTen sighed, "Yeah, I'm pretty nervous about what could happen, but she's a strong woman. She can do it." Kakashi stretched and closed his newest copy of Icha Icha Paradise. "I'm supposed to be trailing her, me and Yamato. But still, I worry if we can stop her." TenTen waved him off, "You worry too much. Sakura has to be one of the best kunoichi in the village right now. She seemed to have handle Mariko good enough. And apparently, Lady Tsunade has some trust in her pupil for her to send her on a mission with the ANBU." Kakashi nodded, "You're right, but it's never bad to be over protective a bit. Well, I'll see you later. Keep up the work on those kunai for me, kay?"

TenTen growled at the gray-haired ninja has he exited the shop. She cursed under her breath before she got up and put turned the open sign to closed. She needed a nap.

~~~X~~~

Naruto woke from his nap to find Hinata hovering over him. "Finally, you're awake, Naruto- kun." Naruto wiped the slob from his face and sat up slowly, rubbing at his aching back. "Damn, I think I'm getting old." Hinata chuckled, "Well, you have been sleeping on a couch instead of in the bed, Naruto- kun. By the way, where were you this morning?" Naruto rolled his eyes, remembering that 'horrible' conversation he just had with Hiashi early this morning. "Oh, well, I went out and Neji summoned me to the Hyuga compound. Turns out your father wanted to discuss a few matters regarding to becoming the Hokage, " he said with a bit of grimace. How dare that darn man decides what he does with his life? He already fucked up Neji's mind long enough with that 'destiny' crap, he was not about to fall victim to that HORRIBLE practice.

Hinata watched as Naruto's fist were tightening by the second. She sat next to him and placed a hand on top of his, "Don't worry, Naruto- kun. You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to. I won't get mad." Naruto sighed and loosened up, "Thank you, Hinata."

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"Ehh, not really. But if you insist, some tea would be nice!" He smiled. Hinata gave his hand another reassuring squeeze and got up to make two cups of tea. Naruto took this time to ponder his thoughts. Why on Earth would Hiashi try to force a marriage on them? It was... stupid, to be honest. Last he remembered, Hiashi didn't really like Naruto. The former Hyuga leader was one of those people who despised Naruto for what he had in him. Of course, Hinata was innocent when it came to this, but, she didn't have anything to do with this. Sure, she was the one being forced upon him, but, like Sakura said, it was up to him if he wanted to marry Hinata or not.

"Sakura..." Naruto whispered aloud. Why was it that every time a topic of 'love' popped up, his mind would go into 'Crush on Sakura' mode? He thought he got rid of those feelings a while ago. All he knew was that one thing for sure, his crush on her had nothing to do with a rivalry with Sasuke. He had always admired Sakura for her strengths and flaws which he found adorable. When he complimented Sakura's forehead, that was not to get into some competition with Sasuke. He was simply complimenting the one thing she hated about herself. It was no lie though; he really did find her forehead kissable.

Naruto smiled. He wished that he could tell her that it was him who complimented her. It was him that cared for her all this time. That damn teme! Why did he have to leave such a great woman?

He'd often hear others who actually supported him and Hinata's relationship say that they were proud he moved on. Some thought it was a great idea that he chose Hinata. She was everything a man could wish for. She was nice, sweet, gentle, and she had curves that would seduce any man that crossed her path. But, Naruto couldn't have her. He knew that deep down, she was out of his reach. She was TOO perfect. Some may say that after the life he's lived, he needed someone like Hinata. Naruto, of course, didn't agree at all.

Sure, he often thought that maybe, he deserved some happiness in his life. And happiness does not always mean what's best for you. Hinata, and kami bless her soul, is WAY too submissive to him. She'd mainly tolerate his bad behavior, even when Naruto knew it was wrong. She was too... classy and flawless for his liking. She never really got angry at him for something and though he is a grown man, she still lacks discipline skills for him and Boruto.

But on the other hand, you have Sakura. She was nowhere near perfection. She had plenty of flaws. She wasn't born with a blood limit. Her clan are just known as civilians. She had to go through vigorous training in order to get where she was today. He could only pray for her. The training Lady Tsunade put her through was HARSH! But she took it anyways without complaint because she wanted to grow stronger and be of some use to her team. And boy did that pay off! She went from a sassy girl with buried abilities of monstrous strength and chakra control to a full blown badass! He couldn't explain the amount of proudness he felt when he heard that she was able to take down an above hokage level Akatsuki member. With the help of Lady Chiyo of course, but the old lady looked like she was about to croak sooner or later than she did when he first met her. Naruto once despised her for what she did to Gaara, but he eventually felt bad for her after she gave her life to save Gaara's.

Hinata went through some harsh training too. But, he didn't feel as bad for her than how bad he felt for Sakura. Hinata, on the other hand, was born into one of Konoha's most powerful clans known to the world. The Hyugas specialized in taijutsu and doujutsu. Hinata, however, was never really a fighter. She was too sweet and innocent to be a ninja in the first place. But Naruto still admired her, even if he found it kind of suicidal of the fact that it seems like she only became a ninja to get his attention. But that was just his dense thinking. He did, however, feel terrible for not noticing her sooner. If he did, he still probably wouldn't have returned her love for him, but he would've ended things with proper closure.

He loved both women dearly. He knew full well that it their 'love triangle' would forever be flowing in one direction though. Naruto would always chase after Sakura while Hinata would always chase after Naruto. He remembers Iruka telling Naruto one day that it was probably the effects of the genjutsu wearing off when they were discussing Naruto and Hinata's failing relationship. All his friends seemed totally shocked to hear about their blossoming relationship when it first started. And he couldn't lie by saying that it didn't shock him too. He remembered Kiba suspiciously questioning his sudden flip flop from being 'Sakura crazy' to being in love with the 'weird stalker girl'.

Naruto then began thinking back to some of his earlier thoughts. Okay, so maybe Hinata did have some flaws. Like the fact that she has never in her life won not a single battle by herself. But that was Hinata. She never was a 'fighter'. In Naruto's opinion, she was better off being a regular civilian with some basic defensive skills. Sakura, at first, wasn't really cut out to be a ninja either. When they first became genin, Sakura was... and he hated to say it... a bit useless. But he understood that fully. She was, after all, not from a talented clan like most of the other members were. But, unlike Hinata, Sakura had guts. She had the courage to take up the responsibilities of being a shinobi, even if it was to impress Sasuke. Naruto watched as she grew away from having a crush on Sasuke and saw as she began focusing on protecting the Will of Fire. Hinata, on the other hand, seemed to have her entire brain and being orbiting around him. Naruto found it sort of annoying how she'd always faint when he came near her.

Sure, she may have been inspired and had a crush on him from a young age, but she was really trying too hard to get him to notice her. He remembered her suicidal confession during the fight against Pein. He had specifically told everyone to stay out of the fight. But she didn't listen, and nearly got killed in the process. He was pleased by her bravery, but he would've appreciated it more if she just stayed out of it. That reminded him of Sakura's confession in the Land of Iron. She had traveled all the way there from the Leaf Village to give a 'fake' confession. Naruto was truly hurt by this and rejected her 'fake' offer. He was totally dumbfounded as to why she'd even consider telling him that. Did she not know the true level of his feelings for her? However, that moment did help Naruto understand that maybe his love for her wasn't as strong as he claimed.

This didn't stop him from being heart- broken though. She was acting strange and he knew it. Sai's clone cleared everything up for him though. Apparently, that confession was to distract him from going after Sasuke. Sakura had gone to kill Sasuke herself. She knew that if he were to keep up searching for Sasuke, then there was a possibility that Naruto would die in the process. He understood that she was probably scared that she'd lose her best friend, but she needed to understand that he wasn't just bringing Sasuke back for her, but for himself as well. Naruto was completely mortified that Sasuke was just about to kill her, had it not been for him dropping in just in time. He just knew that deep down, Sasuke had some type of love for Sakura, after everything she's done to get him back to the village and the amount of love she had for him. All Naruto knew, was that if Sasuke was to kill Sakura, he'd never forgive him. Naruto and Sakura were working hard to create the unbreakable bond they had, and he'd be damned if he let Sasuke get in the way of the closest way to Sakura he'd ever have.

Naruto's thoughts were cut short when Hinata returned with two cups of tea and two bowls of ramen. Naruto had been thinking for a while he didn't even notice Hinata order two bowls of pork ramen from Ichiraku's shop. He wasn't surprised by how fast it got there though. They lived only about a block or two away from the place. Hinata sat next to Naruto and began slurping un her noodles. She watched Naruto for any signs of wanting to start a conversation. When she found none, she sighed and begun talking herself, "So, how is your training for being to Hokage going?"

Naruto smiled, "Well, granny said that I'm doing awesome, I just need to study more about the history and politics and stuff," Naruto said grumpily. "Other than that, she said that I'd make a fine Hokage from my ability to maintain peace." Hinata smiled, "And I admire you for that, Naruto- kun. I knew that you would be a Hokage since the first day I laid eyes on you. You were always so confident in fulfilling your dreams and you've made more than enough progress towards your goals. I am so grateful to be by your side every step of the way. If you need any help with anything, you could always ask. I am always available for you, for anything you need or want, Naruto- kun." Naruto cringed internally. He wished terribly that Hinata would move on and find something more promising to do with her life. He was still miffed about the fact that she gave up her ninja career just for the protection from him. Even if she didn't say that aloud, Naruto knew that it was one of the main reasons for her reckless decisions. But, all he could do was at least be a little grateful. "Eh... Thank you, Hinata."

She was so close to kissing Naruto. She didn't see the slight uncomfortable expression on Naruto's face because her eyes were closed. They haven't kissed in YEARS!

Her 'mission' was spoiled rather rudely when Sakura came in. She looked exhausted and a bit nervous. "Hey guys, I'm here-… Oh my! I am SO SO SO SORRY for interrupting!" Naruto quickly turned around to see Sakura standing in the door way with a face as red as his mother's hair. He drunk in her image. She looked... different. "Sakura..." Naruto growled, standing away from Hinata, who was still trying to get a kiss from him. "Why did you cut your hair? I told you that you looked beautiful with your hair long!"

Sakura smirked, "And YOU said that you didn't mind me having my hair short!" Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, "…whatever…" Sakura gave a cute giggle and it made Naruto's heart flutter and Hinata's blood boil. The former Hyuga heiress glared as Sakura came and sat next to Naruto. Said blonde was nosily peeking into Sakura's bag.

"Watcha got there?" Naruto asked. Sakura used two fingers and pumped a little chakra in them to push him away enough where his forehead would hurt. Sakura giggled again at his cute pouting face. "These are ninja tools for my mission. Lady Tsunade has assigned me as a medic nin on a 3- man team. The other two members are ANBU. She sent me to pick up some special weapons for the task I was assigned." Naruto now wore an expression of worry, "But… but, what about your 'condition'? I know she knows about it, so why would she send you on a mission?"

"Because I told her that I could handle it. Quit babbling, Naruto, I'm capable of holding my own. Besides, I'm sure that she won't send me without someone who can hold back Mariko's chakra. I shouldn't have any incidents since I'm going in as a medic nin."

Naruto was still warry of the hokage's decision, "I'm going with you!" Both Hinata and Sakura's eyes widened with shock, "WHAT?!" The Hyuga princess shook her head, "You can't just LEAVE your child! He's going to be disappointed when he finds out you left on a mission."

"She's right," Sakura added, "And besides, you can't just up and leave the village without permission from the hokage. You do know that will make you a rouge ninja, right? That won't look good on your record if you're planning on being the Hokage." Naruto shook his head, "No, I will get permission from her. Besides, the more missions a ninja has completed, the better chance I'll have at becoming the hokage. And don't worry, Hinata, I'm sure Boruto won't be that upset. Besides, he's going on a mission with Sarada and Shikadai and Konohamaru to an old farm house to help out an old couple there. They won't be back for about a day or two."

Sakura sighed. There was just no stopping him when he made his mind up about something. They sat there in a somewhat uncomfortable silence. Boruto and Sarada wouldn't be coming home today because they were already on the road to their location. Sakura looked back at Naruto, "Wait, when are they going on the mission?"

"They're already on their way there-"

"You baka! My mission isn't until next Thursday!"

Naruto made an 'o' face, "Then why didn't you say so?"

"Because 1: You weren't assigned on the mission in the first place! 2: I'm not letting you go!"

Naruto smirked, "Try me!" By the time Sakura was trying to stop him, Naruto already teleported away to the Hokage Tower.

"Shit!" Sakura facepalmed and slouched back against the sofa. Hinata was beyond furious right now, but she's been putting up that innocent sweet little face of hers since she was little. Sakura turned to look at Hinata with an apologetic face, "I'm so sorry, Hinata. I really did try to stop him. He's just so damn persistent as always!" Hinata nodded, "Yeah, and I really don't think that Boruto will take this too well. Naruto just started acting like a real father towards Naruto, and now he's trying to leave on a mission."

Sakura sighed, "Right, and the mission isn't going to be a one-day thing either. It's going to be a while before I get back."

Hinata and Sakura sat in the living room in silence, waiting for Naruto to return.

~~X~~

"You just HAVE to let me go, granny!"

"Why are you so damn retarded? I said NO!"

"But why? You said that ninjas who do lots of missions are better off at being a hokage! Are you hiding something that I need to know about?"

"Naruto, the mission was for a 3- man squad! Not 4 or 5! Besides, if anything pops off here in the village, I'm going to need you here on the front lines."

"But there are other great ninjas here that can protect the village without my help! Please, oh please, oh PLEASE let me go!"

Tsunade sensed that something was off. He had been begging for the past 30 minutes. Sure, he doesn't give up on his word or whatever, but she could tell the difference between being stubborn and actually needing something. "Okay, what's going on?"

Naruto gave her a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that bull crap boy! Something's on your mind and you're letting it get to you! That's why your bugging me about something I already gave you an answer to."

Naruto gulped. Didn't know if he wanted to tell Lady Tsunade about his meeting with Hiashi earlier that day. But he assumed it wouldn't hurt that much, since she'd probably figure out anyways with her being the Hokage and all. "Yeah, well... um. I'm kind of stuck in a loop right now. I went to a meeting with Hiashi earlier this morning. He wants me to marry Hinata-"

"Oh, that's great news, Naruto-"

"No, it's not great news. I don't feel the same way for Hinata like I used to, and I think that marriage would have to wait until I get used to being 'in love' with her again. But right now, I'm requesting this mission so that I can have a bit of time to breathe and think about it."

Tsunade knew about Naruto's problems, thanks to Neji. She would give Naruto the mission, but only because he was being mature about the whole situation. "Are you sure you're not just trying to run away from your problems?"

"Of course not! The ceremony isn't until 2 months. I have a bit of time to think. Besides, you said that if I were to get married soon, it can be at the ceremony. So, I still have a little bit of time."

"Fine, you can go on the mission. But you better decide soon though. You will go to keep Sakura's chakra under control. The ANBU team I sent is aware of her 'situation' and I threatened them to keep it where only they knew. Kakashi and Yamato will trail you to help. The mission is next Thursday."

"Thank you, GrannyTsunade! Thanks for understanding too," Naruto said as he headed for the office door. "Oh, and Naruto,"Tsunade called out, "Make sure you make the right decision about the whole marriage thing. I know about that Hyuga'sintentions and I don't want you falling in the wrong path." Naruto nodded and decided to teleport back to his house.

* * *

**AN: Okay so that's out of the way. PHEW! Anyways, guy I am SO VERY VERY sorry about the wait. I just was out of it these last couple of days and I was delayed by other personal problems.**

**So, Hiashi wanna be a power greedy bitch eh? Welp, I can't say I didn't see that one coming. He's going to play as an antagonist in this story sooo, yeah.**

**Also, this story plotting can be used as a challenge under the following conditions:**

**1\. The pairing is either NaruSaku or no pairing at all.**

**2\. Sakura has to become a jinchuriki, but it doesn't have to be under the same ****circumstances as she did in this book.**

**3\. The canon kids can be in there, if you want them to be.**

**4\. The story can take place in Shippuden, The Last, or in the Boruto era.**

**That's just my suggestion. Yall have fun with it if yall wanna try it. Off to make chapter 13. NICE REVIEWS ARE ALLOWED! TELL ME HOW I'M DOING! THANKS AND HAVE A GREAT DAY!**


	12. Chapter 13: Mission and Confessions

**AN: Thanks for the kind reviews people! I appreciate the critiquing and pleasant words sent by all of you. Now about this chapter: I literally had to google the map of the 5 Great Nations because I had no idea how far away the Grass Village was from the Leaf Village, LOL!**

**And thanks to the ones who think my writing is getting better. The reason I think yall say that is because in the last chapter, I added a whole lot of the main character's feelings and stuff. But that was because I was really in my feelings the day where I finished that chapter. I usually don't do that stuff because me, being the lazy person I am, try to skip over those parts in other stories I read, then turn around and get mad when I realize I missed something important, LOL!**

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**AN (UPDATE): Okay, let me be real with yall for a sec. That AN above, was written a WHILE ago. I've been on and off of this chapter so much. Because I'm human, like all of us (right?), Imma tell yall what I've been doing these past couple of weeks, or days, or what not:**

**1\. I've literally went through Hibernation. There would be some days where I'd sleep till around 5 to 6 o'clock in the evening. Then after realizing that, I take my behind right back to bed and say, "You know what? Just fuck it! I didn't want to get up anyways."**

**2\. If I wasn't sleep, I was eating and playing Minecraft or playing Ninja Storm Generations or something. (I really wasn't trying yall)**

**3\. If I wasn't doing that, I was outside with my dog, doing Inuzuka stuff, like teaching her the Fang over Fang (Okay I'm stretching the truth a bit, but I did spend time with my doggy! :)**

**4\. And last but not least (and this is what I was really doing), I was on Fanfiction or Wattpad reading some NaruSaku stories to give me ideas of what to write in the future. I'll get into that and all the other good stuff after this chapter. WARNING: It may seem a bit thrown together because of me being 'on and off' of this fic, but here ya go! BIG CHARACTER REVEAL COMMING UP!**

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On the Thursday of their mission, the team of ANBU, along with Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi, left the village to head towards their destination. The ANBU team were in front, with Kakashi right behind them. Behind Kakashi was Sakura, and Naruto was in the back, since he had the heightened senses that could allow him to alert the team of any dangers. Kakashi rested all week long, preparing his chakra to be used in any way necessary. Naruto, well, he just did what he usually does. No needing him resting up to save chakra in his reserves. If he runs out, he has Kurama's unlimited chakra. Sakura, still getting adjusted to being a jinchuriki, still acted as if she never became one. She still rested a lot and refreshed her memory on lots of medical terms and treatments that they could run into. The ANBU who were traveling with them had Earth, Fire, and Water chakra natures, added to the fact that Kakashi used Lightning style, Sakura specialized in Earth and a little Lava style thanks to Mariko, and Naruto with his wind style techniques. They were a pretty much badass combo.

The team decided to leave EARLY in the morning, since the Hidden Grass Village had quite a huge distance from the Hidden Leaf. Of course, they could've teleported there, but neither of them had recently been in Kusagakure to mark any specific spots to teleport to.

Tsunade, who had just realized how far apart the villages were, extended the mission to last around a week if needed be, since it was going to take them around two or three days to get there. Same vice versa for returning, but it all depended on how fast they went, what route they took, and the amount of distance they covered.

It was a bright and beautiful morning. The temperature was a little 'over- warming', but the accurate breeze that blew along their bodies as the jumped from tree to tree was pleasant. Sakura was having a beautiful morning. Before they left, Sakura had done everything in her power to make sure she wasn't too grumpy, having to wake up at 2 IN THE FREAKING MORNING!

*Flashback*

Sakura awoke to the most annoying time and sound in the world. She struggled to read the time on her ear- rapping alarm clock that read 2 a.m. She groaned in annoyance and used her supper strength to smash the clock, enjoying the crackling of electricity that crackled in disagreement, but she could care less. She snuggled back into her pillows and went partially back to sleep.

She jumped when she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and felt something against her ear. "You know, I'd do the same thing to that darn alarm clock, but I'm sure Lady Tsunade beating the crap out of us for being late to the front gates would be WAY much worse," Naruto chuckled.

Sakura growled and punched him off her bed. She smirked menacingly when Naruto wined in pain, "Well... god morning to you too, Sakura- chan!"

"You know how I am about personal space!"

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, sorry bout that!" Sakura rolled her eyes at his smile and stretched. "Good, you're up fully now. Let's get going! We need to make sure that we have everything packed and ready to go. I packed some granola bars and other traveling snacks for the road. Grab you a fruit on the way out, we won't have time to make breakfast."

Sakura smirked, "Since when did you get so controlling? And aren't you going to say goodbye to your girlfriend and child before hitting the road? We might be gone for a while, ya know?" Naruto sweat- dropped. He wasn't completely mentally nor physically for saying goodbye to his 'family'. Especially not Boruto; he hadn't even told him about the mission yet. 'So much for earning the Dad of the Year award,' Naruto thought. He came and sat next to Sakura on the bed again, ignoring her warning glares she sent him. "Sakura- chan, I haven't even told Boruto about the mission yet. He'll just assume that I'm trying to get away from the family again. Then Hinata will try to pester me into staying with them and honestly Sakura, I'm doing this for two reasons. 1: I haven't been in any real action except helping you with your training. 2: I just REALLY need a breather from them! I've been trying so hard to please them, yet Hinata is STILL bothering me about another kid and Boruto still thinks it'd be better if I'd give up on becoming Hokage and staying home with the family. Sakura, you, of all people, should KNOW how INSANE, that is!"

Sakura was a bit taken aback by the last statement. His own SON went against his dreams? Something wasn't right, but then again, "Naruto, I am your best friend and I would do anything in my power to make sure that you are happy with your life. But I also know, that I am sure as hell not your damn THERAPIST! There's only so much that I can do for you and solving a personal family matter is not in my power. I've given you advice, are you even trying tha- "

"Of course I'm trying! But it's just never enough for them! They basically want me to give up on my whole career and start making Uzumaki spawns and crap!"

"Don't say things like that, Naruto. I'm sure they want the best for you, and they're trying to cope with your hopes and dreams for the future, but they want happiness too. And you don't know how PROUD I am that you've started taking your feelings into consideration too. But since we're short on time, the only advice I can give you is this: You can't please everyone, just keep the ones that are appreciative of your kindness happy, and you will become happy yourself!" Naruto blushed at Sakura's smile. He swore up and down that it was one of the most BEAUTIFUL things he'd ever seen in his life. But forget all of that, her words… they spoke… truth!

"Sakura- chan… YOU'RE A FREAKING GENIUS," Naruto shouted, hugging her tightly. Sakura blushed from the close proximity and the setting of their 'friendly' action. She immediately broke away from the hug and got out of the bed. "Okay, okay, enough with the cuddles! We've got a mission to get to, and I'd hate to be there later than Kakashi." Naruto smiled and left her room to give her privacy.

~~~X~~~

Sakura hummed happily as she came down stairs with her traveling backpack in tow. She wore a red mock neck sleeveless crop top with some rather short spandex shorts. She wasn't shamed, it was supposed to be HOT outside while they were gone. It was currently 5: 30 a.m, so the temperature wasn't too warm. But still, it would be stupid to bring a jacket if it was summer anyways. She just brought an extra pair of grey leggings and a pink T- shirt when her original outfit got dirty. She stopped midway down the last fleet of stairs when she saw the scene before her in the living room.

Boruto looked… angry, with his head turned away from his father. Hinata had the look of a mother sitting idly between an argument between her child and the father of that child. A part of Sakura pitied her, but she also wished she'd step in and tighten up for once!

"I just don't understand dad," Boruto started. "Why would you agree to a mission that you weren't originally assigned to, and expect me and mom to believe that you're not going because you're trying to get away."

"That's not it at all! Technically, I am needed on the mission since Sakura hasn't been sent outside the village with her new chakra yet. Me, along with Captain Yamato and Kakashi sensei are the only ones who could have a chance at holding back a transformation."

"Well, if you were really needed, then why didn't Lady Tsunade just assign you to the mission in the first place?"

Naruto paused for a bit. He had a point there, but if he told Boruto or Hinata part 2 of why he was doing the mission, he'd be put right back to the shamed ungrateful boyfriend/ father. Luckly, Naruto always had a back up plan. "Well, I was initially needed here to be in the front lines just in case something popped off here. But she had a change of heart when I reminded her of Sakura's condition. I didn't completely agree with Lady Tsunade on letting Sakura leave the village, so I agreed to go just in case things got out of hand."

Sakura mentally exhaled in relief. The last thing they needed was a family fight going on before a long mission, for it could be a HUGE distraction and it can lead to fatal consequences, depending on how bad the issue impacted the ninja. But who was she kidding? The same went for everyone! She yelped when she felt a small pat on her back. "Aren't you supposed to be on a mission, mom?" Sakura glared at her daughter, "What have I told you about sneaking up behind me, Sarada?" The Uchiha heiress giggled, "Sorry to catch you pulling a Hinata move on Naruto. Though I have to say, stalking isn't something I'd ever thought I'd catch YOU doing!" Sarada gave a good hearted laugh and ran into the living room, "Come on Boruto! Give your dad a break! He's traveling to the GRASS VILLAGE! Do you have any idea how FAR AWAY that is from here?"

Sakura smiled. Of course she'd know, since they passed through the Grass Village on their little 'adventure' with Sasuke. And leave it to her daughter to be a goofball and decyfer tension between any group of people. Sakura made a mental note to limit the amount of time her daughter spent with the blonde, she was taking after him a bit TOO much lately.

Boruto nodded in agreement, "Eh… I guess you're right, Sarada- chan. Sorry dad! I was arguing over you leaving to help protect someone close to you when I should've been reminding you to be safe on your journey." Boruto meant his apology too, he was beginning to grow on his dad, and he liked where their father- son relationship was going." Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Eh… It's not that big of a deal, ya know? It's alright, and you were right, I should stay. But, if I don't go with her, Sakura could explode and who knows who could be in danger if her temper gets thrown off track- "

"EH?! WHAT WAS THAT? IF ANYONE, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO WILL SURELY SET ME OFF!" Sakura was now standing right in front of Naruto with her finger pointing right between the space in his eyes, making Naruto sweat madly. "S- Sa- Sakura- chan… s- sorry!" Sakura giggled and grabbed Naruto by the strap of his orange tank top and grabbed his duffle and dragged him to the door. "Alright! It's 5: 47! We gotta hit the road before Lady Tsunade scream our heads off! See you guys later!" Naruto struggled his goodbyes as well and before he knew it, he was thrown across Sakura's back for a ride to the village's front gates.

*End flashback*

Naruto cringed when he ran into a huge cobweb and hit his face on a branch while he fell down. "Naruto!" Yamato caught him with his wood style jutsu and used it to carry it on his back. He signaled for the team to continue. "What's with you today? This is your second time falling out of nowhere. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Yamato wasn't even supposed to be in line with them. He was only supposed to be trailing them for signs of a possible transformation. However, there isn't much he could do unless Naruto were to give Sakura the first hokage's necklace.

"I'm fine, Cpt. Yamato. I guess it's just the fact that I haven't woken up so early in a long time." That was the 'half' truth. The other half was the fact that Sakura's words had been getting at him all morning long. " You can't please everyone, just keep the ones that are appreciative of your kindness happy, and you will become happy yourself.." Yamato gave him a confused look. Naruto just waved it off as something he heard on TV and Yamato nodded in understanding, though Kakashi, who had been listening the whole time, thought something more of it. Because of him being nosy, he knows of Naruto and Hinata's relationship issues. He was also aware of who had been coping him through the issues as well. Part of Kakashi was overjoyed at the idea of some actual 'drama' going down in Konoha. He and Ino would be talking about this later…

Sakura was a bit worried about Naruto. Of course, she knew what was wrong with him. She cursed her big mouth. She felt the need show a bit more 'tougher love' than soft- ish love to him. She have been a bit nicer to Naruto lately when Hinata complained about her punching him so much. She wouldn't complain though, she'd punch him so much that sometimes, Mariko's chakra would enhance her attacks against her own will and it would take days for Kurama to heal the wounds. But Sakura has only witnessed ONE time where Hinata got mad at Naruto, and that was when she found him in her bedroom. They weren't doing anything, but she was being an emo about it. If she could recall, their position was probably inappropriate, but Hinata should've known by now that Naruto would never do something so distasteful. Even Sakura herself wouldn't DARE let Naruto cheat on Hinata.

They traveled all night long until the moon was at its highest peak in the sky. The ANBU captain of the team held up his hand to stop them, "That's enough for today. We should stop and make camp now. If we travel fast enough, then we should be able to make it to Grass by nightfall tomorrow." Everyone nodded in agreement and jumped down to the forest floor.

Since they had Yamato on their team, making a camp would be easy, except it won't necessarily be a 'camp'. Yamato had plenty of chakra, so he did a few hand signs and created a two story wooden house for them to camp in. Naruto and Sakura were forever amazed by his handy jutsu. Kakashi often took advantage of Yamato by making him create trees and benches for him to relax on while they were training someone. The ANBU members complimented his abilities, making the wood user sheepishly blush in embarrassment while Kakashi smiled under his mask.

The ANBU members went inside, with Yamato and Kakashi following, to discuss possible routes they could take to get to the Grass village faster. Naruto and Sakura sat outside and built a fire to sit around til they felt like going inside to sleep. Sakura felt that she really didn't need to be there for their little meeting, neither did Naruto. Mainly because Sakura was only there for medical assistance and Naruto was there to help keep her chakra under control, along with Kakashi and Yamato. If anything were to happen, they'd just send a messenger bird to alert the hokage and she'd determine whether or not they finish the mission or return back to the village. So the mission was really for the ANBU.

"Sakura- chan?" Naruto called out.

"Hm?"

"Why do did granny assign you on this mission in the first place? Aren't there medical nins in the ANBU?" Sakura sighed, "I don't know, Naruto. Maybe it was to test out my ability to go out into the field without 'exploding'. She could've just simply be wanting to check and see if I'm still eligible to do field work. Or, she just sent me because of the possible dangers we could be in. We are going to the Grass village after all. But, I doubt we'll run into that much trouble." Naruto sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about what could happen to you. She could've gave us sometime to train a bit."

Sakura smirked, "Are you saying that my skills are rusty?" Naruto blushed hard, "NO! NO! Not at all! I was just thinking that since this is your first mission out in the field since the whole 'Mariko issue', then it probably would've been smart to at least check and see how good of a hold you have on the new chakra." Sakura smiled, "You know what? I haven't even thought about that, and you're right, I haven't used her chakra in a while, haven't I," Sakura purred as she slid closer to Naruto. He freaked out and yelped when he felt something soft and bushy rub up against his side. He snapped his head down and saw a pink tail with a white tip swaying around on his arm.

Naruto growled, looking over to the pink haired kunoichi beside him, who now had pink fluffy ears, three whisker marks adorning her cheeks, and fangs coming from her sweet, innocent smile. "What have I told you about bringing those out!" Sakura laughed so hard she nearly tumbled over, "But, you were the one who said I should test how much I can hold her. Besides, don't get your panties caught up in a bunch because YOU can't have fluffy tails!"

Naruto growled and glared at her, "Kurama!" He called out to his kyuubi inside of him. Kurama facepalmed, "KIT! I am not joining in on you two's childish games! Besides, it's embarrassing!" Sakura giggled, "Aww! Someone is afraid of humiliation when they have the power to wipe out an entire nation!" Kurama huffed in annoyance. He remembered that Sakura gained the ability to hear whatever Kurama was saying to Naruto during their training. Then something occurred to him, "Say, Sakura. Mariko's been extremely quiet lately. Have you heard from her?"

Sakura thought about this for a while, "No, let me check with her." Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated to Mariko's temple. When she opened her eyes, she was in a cherry blossom forest. She turned when she heard a loud feminine yawn. Sakura's eyes widened when she finally found Mariko stretching as if she were awakening from a nap.

"Who's there- Oh. It's you! What do you want with me?" Mariko said grumpily.

"You've been extremely quiet lately. What's up with you?"

"Well, other than the fact that I hate you for keeping me from my hubby, then… that's about it, I guess."

Sakura scoffed, "You are so damn stubborn! I'm always around Naruto, well I've been around him a lot lately. How close to you want to be to him?!

Mariko laughed, " Like you're one to talk! Don't remember that I know about how you were so hung over that teme Uchiha! You should be ashamed at how much of a fan girl you were back then!"

Sakura sighed, "You know what? You're right. I am ashamed of myself for what I did back then. I could've been a better person had I not been so caught up with my childish crush on Sasuke. I could've been found someone to train me in genjutsu since I'm supposed to be 'good at it' or whatever. I could've been more, and so can you. Have you ever thought that just maybe, Kurama doesn't like you?"

Mariko scoffed, "OF COURSE HE DOES! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! He loves me and just because your love life didn't turn out the way you wanted it to doesn't mean that you just predict what's going to happen in mine!"

"Actually, it kind of does, because I am literally looking at myself in a mirror. You don't have to like me, but I know you. For a long time, I thought that no matter how Sasuke thought of me or treated me, he would always deep down, have feelings for me. Turns out, as the years went on, I did everything I could to help Sasuke out with his problems. He still didn't give any fucks about me, so I eventually gave up on him. He then came back to me and declared his love to me out of nowhere. Now, me and my 12 year old mentality fell for his bullshit and I wined up getting pregnant with his child, just for him to leave off a few years after the birth of his child. I have no idea what he's out there doing with his life, but now that I am here back in the village, I started pondering on how much my life could've been different had I not left the village with Sasuke 12 years ago."

Mariko rolled her eyes, "How does this have anything to do with me? That's you and your fucked up life! Me and Kurama were good friends, until for some magical reason in who knows why, YOU absorbed me!"

Sakura scoffed, "What makes you think that I want you inside of me?! Sure, you may have gave me a few 1ups, but I was perfectly fine with the way I was! You're so damn stubborn and annoying and the only reason why you're in me is because I let Naruto's suicidal idea of using his father's sealing technique to remove you from me."

Mariko laughed, "Then why didn't you let him? You claim to have no romantic feelings for him, right?"

Sakura's blood was boiling now. "That doesn't mean that I can't care and love him as a friend you idiot! Maybe, if you were to stop calling Kurama your 'hubby' and actually try to start off in the friend zone, then he might start to take your existence into consideration! You two are barely aquaintenced with each other and you're already trying to date him? What is wrong with you?"

Mariko was quiet for a while and she sighed in defeat, "You're right. I haven't even thought about befriending him or anything like that. I guess I just got a little too desperate about getting him to choose me as his mate. But don't think that just because I finally agreed with you on something mean that I'm becoming your friend! But hey, at least we both don't want me in you. But I'm just curious now, if you don't want me in you, then why did you want to keep me here?"

"Because the other option would be for Naruto to use the Death Reaper seal on me and he'd die in the process."

Mariko nodded, "Good point, now can you leave now? I'm not a big fan of your presence."

Sakura smirked and closed her eyes to focus on leaving the vixen's temple. What she didn't know, was that Mariko was actually taking Sakura's advice to heart. While Sakura was transferring her consciousness back into the real world, she smirked, nearly laughing at herself for trying to give out romantic advice while her own relationship failed hilariously.

~~~X~~~

Naruto was shaking Sakura crazily, trying to get her to wake up. She had been out of it for like almost over 15 minutes and he was starting to freak out. Right when he was about to alert Kakashi and Yamato, Sakura took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "Sakura- chan!" Naruto held her tightly as if she were about to disappear. Sakura struggled out of his embrace, "Can you let go?! You're smothering me!" Naruto released his hold on her, "What the hell took you so long?! You scared the shit out of me!"

Sakura smirked, "I had to talk some sense into Mariko. She was acting like an extremely hormonal teenager. It was actually funny. Kurama fears her and she acts like how I acted like when I was 12 and 13," Sakura laughed. Mariko gave a disapproving growl that made Sakura laugh even harder. Naruto looked at her like she was crazy and threw her over his shoulders like she was a sack of potatoes. "Okay, you DEFINITELY need some sleep! Let's go to bed, Sakura- chan!"

Sakura smiled and fell asleep on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto blushed madly when he felt her soft breathing on his neck. He chuckled when he heard her snoring. When he reached their room, he laid her down on her cot and he went to lay on his, which was beside hers. He watched her sleep peacefully as he drifted off into his dreamland of that night.

~~X~~ (Naruto's dream)

Naruto awakened on Team 7's training ground. He saw his younger self along with Sakura and Sasuke fighting against Kakashi to take the bells from him. He chuckled when he saw how reckless he attacked Kakashi and how he'd get trapped in one of his tricks every time he tried something. The scene before him skipped to when he was tied to the center post. His heart warmed when he saw Sakura and Sasuke agree to feed him, knowing full well what could happen as a result. "...Sakura's smile..." Naruto thought as the scene switched again to their mission at the Land of Waves.

Naruto watched as Sakura cried when she found Sasuke lying supposedly 'lifeless' from Haku's needle attack. He felt a pain in his heart from that moment. "...Her tears..." The scene switched again to the hospital after the mission where they saved Sasuke. Naruto watched as Sakura joyfully ran over to hug him, crying into his friend/rival's arms. He saw the sad smile on his younger self's face when he witnessed the act. "...Her happiness..."

The scene switched to much later, when Sasuke left the village. He watched painfully as his younger self took on the 'burden' that was placed upon him by his crush. "Naruto..." Sakura started out, "This is a once in a lifetime promise! Just please, please bring Sasuke- kun back to me!" Naruto cringed at the painful nostalgia of the moment. It was one of the most painful experiences of his life! "...Her selfishness..."

Everything went blank. Naruto found himself standing in a pure white abyss. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he reopened them, he found himself standing in a cherry blossom field. The soft breeze made him feel somewhat at peace from all those torturous memories he just went through. He walked around the cherry blossom forest and found a huge tree in the what seemed like the middle of the forest. He sat near the base of it and allowed his head to fall back. Within a few minutes, the memories came flooding back through his mind again. "...Her smile... Her tears... Her happiness... Her selfishness..." Naruto grabbed his head in frustration. He felt like he was going to lose control of his emotions when something touched his shoulder. He snapped his head around to see his modern 32-year-old Sakura smiling sweetly at him.

"Something on your mind, Na- ru- to- kun?" Naruto nearly passed out from her 'innocent' voice. He blushed when she chuckled, "Come on! I want to show you something." Sakura grabbed his hand and they walked down the dirt path that was in front of the big tree. "Sa- Sakura- chan? Is this really you?" The medic only giggled in response. Naruto was by now a bit creeped out. They suddenly stopped and Sakura pointed over to some cherry blossoms swirling around rapidly. Naruto squinted his eyes and saw a 16-year-old Sakura come out of the pile of swirling leaves. He smiled at her, and she returned the smile. "Hey there, baka," the teenaged Pinkett giggled. Her smile soon faded quickly, and she looked sad.

Naruto looked concerned and walked up to her, "What's wrong?" The teenaged Sakura shook her head, "I'm a TERRIBLE person! I am so sorry, Naruto! I never meant to... I didn't mean to... play with your feelings back then. With Sasuke and all... I didn't mean any of it! Naruto was confused, "What are you talking about?"

"My 'love confession'! I knew how you felt about me! Sai told me so before I even got there! I told you that I loved you, but it was used as a distraction to get you to go back to the village! I wanted to free you from that burden by killing Sasuke! Sure, it might've put a heavy burden on myself because of the feelings I had for him, but I didn't want Sasuke to get in the way of your dreams of becoming the Hokage. I wanted to make sure that you achieved that important goal in your life. I just thought of my action as a redemption of what I did to you way back when.

Naruto received a flashback of something he doesn't recall being there himself to witness. "Captain Yamato..." Sakura started. Naruto noticed his 15 year old self being healed by Sakura's 15 year old self. "Please, is there anyway that you can teach me that jutsu?"

"Jutsu?" Naruto thought. It then hit him. The jutsu that only Yamato or the first hokage could do. From what Captain Yamato had told him, that jutsu took up a ridiculous amount of chakra. "Sakura... she wanted to learn that high level of jutsu? For me?" Captain Yamato shook his head, "Only I can perform the jutsu, since I've been injected with the cells of the first hokage." Sakura began to cry a little and pumped extra chakra into him to speed up the process. "I just, wish that I could be of some use! The things that I do for him, for Naruto... they 're so small. I've never felt so useless!" Cptn. Yamato then smiled, "However, it doesn't matter about the size of what you do for him. What truly matters is your feelings for Naruto." Sakura gave him a surprised, puzzled look. "Sakura, I can tell just by looking at you, that you- "

Naruto was back in the cherry blossom forest again, face to face with the 32-year-old Sakura. "Wait! What happened? What was he about to say!?" The adult Sakura wore a sad look on her face. "Look!" Naruto watched another flashback appear; Sakura was crying. Sai was there saying something, but he wasn't really paying attention to any of it. The last thing he said, however, really did get to him. "Sakura," Sai started, "I've come here to tell you that Naruto loves you!" Years of understanding emotions helped Naruto understand what was going through Sakura's head when he said that. Regret, denial, anger, happiness, sadness, and confusion. He was then brought back to the cherry blossom forest were the adult Sakura now wore a black strapless dress with pink water paint designs on it.

"Regret," She started, "Because I regretted everything I've done to you up until that point in time. Denial, because I just knew, that after everything that I've done to you, there was no way in hell that you could possibly still care for me at all. Anger, because I was so mad at myself for placing that burden upon you without taking your feelings into consideration. Happiness, because even after all was said and done, you still cared for me in ways that I could never ask more of. Sadness, because deep down, I knew that I had the same feelings for you, but I didn't want you to be with me. You deserved something more valuable. Confusion, because my feelings were mixed up at the moment. I cared for you, and I also cared for Sasuke. Just saying which one I loved was the problem. And yet, to this day, I still struggle with some of these same issues."

Naruto was shocked, no, shock was an understatement. He was BEYOND shocked! But, then again, "That's... really sweet, Sakura- chan, but how can I believe you? Isn't this just a dream?" Sakura shook her head, "Well, this is really me. But, it's not really me." Naruto groaned in confusion, "WHAT?!" Sakura giggled a little, knowing full well that her 'explanation' was beyond confusing. "What I mean is, I am Sakura's consciousness. Meaning, I am everything she keeps hidden, emotions and all. The reason you saw what you did in this dream is because of Mariko and Kurama's influences on our consciousness. Meaning that we will often be able to read each other's emotions, based on how powerful they are. Or, you could just simply call me 'Inner Sakura', because I've been here ever since Sakura developed her little 'crush' on that Uchiha dude."

Naruto kind of caught on, but something was still not right about this, "Wait a minute, Sakura has had Mariko for a while now. So, how come this 'emotion reading' ability hasn't occurred before?"

"Because Sakura and Mariko haven't been 'bonding' lately until just a few hours ago. You see, like how you and Kurama's relationship was, Mariko isn't fond of being inside of Sakura, and the same went vice versa. But she did it for your sake. If you used that Death Reaper Seal, you would've died, and Sakura wants to protect your dream of becoming the Hokage." Naruto was mind blown by all of this, "Wait, so if you know everything about Sakura right?"

The pinkette immediately knew where he was going and shut him down, "NO! I am not telling you any of her secrets! Now, it's time you go into a different dream. This one is just temporary because Sakura has been wanting to tell you about how she felt for a while now and she eventually wanted to tell you this. So, I took the initiative to tell you this in your dreams because you're on a mission right now. Physically talking would be a distraction." Naruto smirked, "Great, because this is totally not a distraction to the mission." Sakura turned red in the face, "Okay first, THAT'S YOUR FAULT FOR HAVING A SHORT ATTENTION SPAN! Second, this is partly Sakura's fault for letting her emotions get the best of her."

"So, let me get this straight, Sakura's emotions have been over powering her for a while, so you decided to give her relief by confessing for her in my dreams? And you are her 'Inner', which means that you're what Ino was talking about during the Chunin exams when she tried to do her Mind Transfer Jutsu to make Sakura quit the match?" Sakura thought about this for a bit and nodded with a smile, "Yeah, that's about it! Now go on to your fantasy world or whatever, AND STOP WITH THE PERVERTISH DREAMS OF ME! IT'S SICKENING!"

Naruto blushed in total embarrassment while the cherry blossom forest faded from around him and he appeared on the beach. Sadly and unfortunately, he spotted his son Boruto standing beside him gawking at Sakura and Sarada building a sandcastle in a rather inappropriate bikini that made Naruto's nosebleed. Of course, he wasn't drawling at Sarada, that would make him a pedophile. But, Sakura was looking SMOKING HOT in her bikini! "PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER NARUTO! YOU HAVE A WHOLE WIFE!" He told himself. It didn't make matters any better when Sakura walked off under an umbrella with some sun tanning lotion telling him to rub some on her. Naruto sighed, "This is going to hurt A LOT when I wake up..." And off he went, with his feet having a mind of its own, to rub down the hot medic in the black and red bikini.

~~X~~ (Sakura's Dream)

Sakura found herself walking the streets of Konoha on a unnaturally cool summer night. She smiled and waved as the kids ran past her asking for autographs and the medical ninja trainees asked for medical advice. She kept walking all the way up until she reached the Hokage Tower. "I wonder what craziness I might run into if I encounter Lady Tsunade at night in my dreams?" She thought. Of course, she was fully aware that she was dreaming. She was used to having dreams that seemed natural and turned out to be TOTALLY weird at the least expected moments. And with that thought in mind, Sakura started to have second thoughts about visiting her sensei. Who knows what she'd be doing in the office, at midnight, with sake bottles surrounding her desk as if she were a depressed widow.

Sakura shuddered and pushed the thought out of her mind, "I see Lady Tsunade as an overall responsible woman who knows how to handle business, what could possibly go wrong?" Sakura reached the tower and found that it was completely vacant inside. Only light that was in there was the moonlight. Preparing for the worse, Sakura reached down to pull out a kunai for defense, but found that she wasn't wearing her holster, which was weird, since she usually carries it on her when she's out and about. Not only that, but her outfit was WAY out of character for her to be walking around the neighborhood in. She wore a strapless red dress that fit her body snuggly and it stopped around 5 inches above the knee. She also noticed that her hair was done up in a neat bun with two strands of hair coming down on the sides of her face. The bun was held up by two decorative chopsticks that had small gold chains hanging from them.

Confused out of her mind, Sakura proceeded to her mentor's office to see what was going on in this dream, "I swear, she better not be trying to set me up for some date or anything!" When Sakura reached the door, she knocked a couple of times and waited for permission to enter. She was shocked and a bit frightened when she heard the words "Come in!", but in a masculine tone. Sakura slowly opened the door and found the Hokage chair turned towards the huge windows behind the desk. "Who- Whose there?" Sakura stuttered shyly as she slowly approached the desk, checking her surroundings for any signs of a set up, or just anything to use as a weapon.

The unknown voice chuckled, "Really? You forgot about me already?" Sakura gasped when she noticed who it was and paled immediately, "Sasuke?" The dark-haired man chuckled again and turned his chair around so that he was facing the desk. "Long time no see, eh?" Sakura was so very confused. Since when has she thought about him, Sasuke, of all people, to become the Hokage? "What are you doing here?" The man chuckled again and walked around the desk. Sakura gasped again as he backed her up against the door and gave an unusual foxy grin. "Gotcha good didn't I?"

Sakura watched as Sasuke changed into Naruto. He was still smiling when he stepped back to admire her attire for the evening. "Wow, you got all dressed up for me tonight?" Sakura blushed and stomped over to pick up his hokage cloak and wrapped it around her, "PERVERT!" Naruto only gave a sexy chuckle that made her blush even more. "Come here, I want to show you something." Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and led her to the balcony of the Hokage tower. As soon as she got up there, she saw a white flash and she found herself standing beside her mother and other villagers. She noticed she was back to being around 5 or 6 years old and they were all standing around in a circle. "Look," she heard someone say, "It's that kid again!"

"Go away!"

"Just die already!"

"Stop existing!"

"DIE DEMON DIE!"

Sakura painfully watch as the small blonde boy, none other than Naruto Uzumaki, stood in the center of the gathering, painfully taking the insults. She was about to go and do something when the white flash reappeared, and she was now watching team 7 meet with Kakashi on top of some building. She smiled at the innocence of the scene until she heard what her younger self had said, "What I hate, is Naruto!" Sakura watched the young Uzumaki wear a pained look on her face. The scene switched again to some time before that when Sakura was sitting on a bench. She watched as 'Sasuke' walked up to her. She seemed to be mumbling about something when he approached her.

When Sasuke asked about how she felt about Naruto, Sakura's younger self said that he was annoying and purposely got in the way of her feelings. "That's not true!" Sakura said aloud. She heard 'Sasuke' compliment her forehead and saw how her younger self got all giddy over it. Sakura, however, found the whole ordeal weird. Before she could register what was really going on, the scene flipped again. Sakura watched as she found her younger self getting rescued by Naruto in thousands of occasions. The scene then stopped at a memory where she was healing Naruto. Sakura had asked Yamato to teach her the jutsu he used on Naruto. The older Sakura watched painfully as Naruto struggled to fight his pain.

The scene flipped again to the Land of Iron. "Oh no..." Sakura mumbled. She already knew what happened here. She didn't want to witness that terrible moment again! Sadly, the memory didn't flip when she wanted it to and she watched as Naruto painfully rejected her 'confession'. "I hate people that lie to themselves!" Sakura snapped her head away from the scene until it was gone. The last scene that was displayed was during the 4th Great Ninja War. Sakura watched in amazement as her younger self panicked and started CPR on Naruto. Sakura didn't remember being that 'panicky', but she still believed it. After all, he was her best friend.

When the flashbacks stopped, she found herself sitting on the bench where 'Sasuke' complimented her. That moment is what boosted her crush on Sasuke farther than what it already was. Naruto was standing across from her, smiling like the big goofy dork he was. "What's so damn funny?" Sakura growled. Naruto chuckled and slowly walked up towards her. Sakura, still not trusting his 'cool dude' demeanor, wrapped the Hokage cloak tightly around her. "You know, Sakura- chan, I was standing behind you during all those flashbacks." Sakura's eyes widened in surprise and a hint of fear, "You were there the whole time? That means you know that this is a dream!"

Naruto nodded, "Yes ma'am it does. It's a bit complicated, but the reason why I'm here right now is because in my dream, your 'Inner' came to me and showed me some of your memories. So I did the same to you." Sakura was confused, "But why would my inner come to you?"

"She said it was because you were having emotional issues about me or something..." Sakura cursed under her breath. Then something alerted her, "Wait, you don't have an inner, right? So, aren't you supposed to be in one of your tailed cloaks or just Kurama?" Naruto nodded, "No, Kurama just let me over here to talk to you. He won't be coming in here tormenting your precious dreams under my watch!" He said cheerfully. Sakura giggled when she saw Naruto cringe in pain, she guessed it was because Kurama got fed up with his 'smack talk'.

Naruto recovered and sat next to Sakura, wrapping an arm around her shoulders so that her head rested on his shoulders. "You know what, Sakura- chan? I really appreciate you feeling sympathy for me back then in that first memory. It meant a lot to me." Sakura was on the verge of tears. Naruto noticed this and gently wiped them away with a handkerchief. "Don't cry, you'll ruin your make- up."

"Naruto, I am so sorry! I know I was being bitchy to you back then and I want you to know that I didn't mean it. I was so caught up in getting Sasuke to notice that I was my own single kunoichi now and that you were ther for me all this time! I'm so sorry!" She cried, embracing him in a tight hug, to which Naruto returned gently. "Sa- Sakura- chan- "

"No! This is my fault and I shouldn't have ever treated you in such a bad way! I was always by your side, but I treated you like crap the entire time! I can't be forgiven for the things that I've done to you, so you don't have to apologize."

"Sakura, you weren't always mean to me. Sure, you might have punched me a lot when I was being an idiot, but I never complained or asked you to stop. You're just a snappy person and I understand that side of you on a personal level. After all, Uzumakis are known for their hotheaded tempers." Sakura chuckled, "Damnit baka! Here I am, 'repenting for my sins', and you find a way to make a little punchline!" Naruto smiled, "There's no need to apologize, Sakura- chan! I've forgiven you tons of times before." Sakura smiled sweetly and hugged him less violently. Something occurred to her then.

"Naruto? Why am I wearing this?" Naruto blushed beet red and released his hold on her. "Oh... um, well, I was wondering... nah, forget it." Sakura glared curiously at her blonde teammate. "No. I want to hear it. What are you hiding?" Naruto blushed harder, "Well, I was just wondering, since this seems to be some type of dream land created by Mariko and Kurama, if you wanted to go out, you know, as friends?"

Sakura giggled. She loved it when Naruto got all insecure. It was a HUGE change from his usual personality, the hotheaded loudmouth. She decided to further tease him about it. "Sure, but, why am I dressed like this?" Naruto blushed so hard it would've put Sasuke's shaningan to shame. She laughed when he began stuttering and mumbling incoherent statements. She sighed and stood up to stretch, "Well, come on! I'm hungry, and let's go someplace other than Ichiraku's for once! Your treat!" Naruto groaned and stood up. He gasped inwardly when she hooked their arms together. Sakura just smiled up at him. Sakura was going to enjoy this dream.

~~~X~~~

Naruto and Sakura both woke up panting in the middle of the night from their dream. When they recovered, they both looked at each other like they'd just seen a ghost. "What the HELL just happened?" Sakura shrugged, "That's my line! And I don't know!" Kurama facepalmed, "How STUPID can you two be? You both figured that out in your dreams! Your emotions got the better of you and your consciousness somehow reached out to each other while you two were sleeping, my guess is because of the influence of me and Mariko."

The two famous ninjas blushed in both realization and embarrassment. Embarrassment because they were basically forced to expressed their deep emotions for each other. Though they were both afraid to speak, Naruto was the first to break the silence. "Sakura- chan, I'm sorry for asking you out," the blonde smiled. Sakura blushed, remembering how much fun the date was.

They had first, went out to Sakura's favorite restaurant. Well, it was her favorite because they specialized in her favorite food, dangos. Sakura was a sucker for sweets, and Naruto had taken advantage to that information and paid for 20 dango kababs. He only ate around 6 or 7, because Sakura had threatened him if he tried to eat more than her, though she was CLEARLY being unfair of splitting it evenly between them, but he didn't care, as long as she was happy.

After that, Sakura, using her 'dreamland super powers', thought of going to the Konoha festival with Naruto. It was something that they'd only did once, and she found herself enjoying that one time, hoping to go again with soon. At the festival, they played games and ate more food. They even got their picture taken to put in a golden locket. It had BFF branded on it, and on the inside, the picture was on the right side while 'N+S' was written on the left.

Lastly, Naruto had suggested they went on a walk. They walked through the forest outside of Konoha, not worrying about rouge ninjas and what not because it was supposed to be 'peaceful' in Sakura's fantasy land. Their walk was pleasant, and both wished the real world could be just as wonderful. They'd walked until they found a lake and sat near it to watch the stars. They talked about how their lives had brought them to where they are now, and other random things. They continued to laugh and joke until they felt themselves waking up to the real world and said goodbye to each other.

Sakura smiled as Naruto continued to blush, "Sorry? For what? Though it was in a dream, that was one of the best nights I've ever had in a long time. In fact, I owe you thanks. That was really a breather for me." Naruto smiled in relief, "Oh, well, your welcome then. Oh, and thanks for showing me those younger versions of yourself. Now that I look back on them, you were EXTREMELY adorable! I had to fight every urge in me to pick up and cuddle you, or pinch at your cheeks." Sakura blushed, "Naruto you baka! Wait, so I don't look 'adorable' now?" Kami, Sakura LOVED teasing Naruto.

"NO, NO! THAT'S NOW WHAT I MEANT!" Damn her for being such a nuisance! Naruto grinned mischievously, two could play at this game! "Oh, Sakura. I think that 'adorable' would be a little too 'immature' to use to describe you." Sakura turned beet red and she snatched her eyes away from his, puffing out her cheeks. Naruto chuckled, "Now THAT'S adorable. I love it when you get all pouty." Sakura threw him a death glare, "Be careful what you say next, Mr. Uzumaki. Or the ANBU, Kakashi, and Yamato might find a whole through their floor!" Naruto smiled and skootched over to where she was sitting. "Fine, I'm sorry, but what word would you want me to use when describing you? I'm somewhere along the lines of smart, beautiful, strong, funny..." Naruto paused and bent over so that he could whisper in her ear, "Or, may I just say that I find you quite sexy."

Sakura was so red that steam came from her ears. She knew they were teasing each other, like they always do. But for him to take it that far? And call her 'sexy'? Sakura punched Naruto back into the wall that was in front of her. She smiled, satisfied with her work, as Naruto's arms and legs twitch around sporadically. When Naruto finally pulled himself out of the hole, he rubbed the bump on his head and glared at his female teammate in annoyance. He had to give quick apologies to Captain Yamato, who was scouting the area, for giving him a heart attack. "Sakura-chan! Thanks for getting me in trouble!" Sakura burst into laughter, "Yeah, because that huge knot on your head doesn't matter! And it serves you right! You shouldn't go around calling women sexy when you know full well that you're a married man."

Naruto walked back over to Sakura after Yamato had patched the whole in their wall and sat down. "Sorry for being nice..." Sakura huffed arrogantly and laid back down. "Get some sleep, baka. We have to continue our mission tomorrow." Naruto smiled and said goodnight and went to sleep himself.

~~~X~~~

"Sir, there seems to be a group of ninjas heading towards our location!"

A black-haired man didn't move a muscle when he received the news. His chair stayed turned towards the back wall of his office. "Let them come, I honestly don't care." The man's spy spoke up again, "But sir! Our intel has identified them as Leaf ninjas. Shouldn't we at least prepare for attack?" The dark-haired man let the information sink in before answering. "Leaf ninja, eh? Well then, I'll deal with them personally." The spy bowed before leaving his master in his office alone.

The dark-haired man stood and stretched a bit, "If they're leaf ninja, then I know about 2 or 3 people are already familiar with this village and that could mean that she is with them as well." An evil smile stretched across the man's features as a thought came to his head.

"I'll just finish her off then."

~~~X~~~

Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato, and the ANBU team headed off to their location early in the morning. Sakura checked to make sure she had all her weapons that TenTen gave her before heading off. Kakashi had lectured her about taking care of the three 'Nature Kunai'. Sakura, not caring that the silver- haired man was her former sensei, eventually threatened to beat the shit out of him if he didn't shut up. Naruto got a laugh out of it, along with a club to the head by Yamato. Count on him to follow the old rule of 'Respecting your seniors'. No one does that these days. Only people that go by that rule would be the old grandparents, or the very few parents that still believed in it.

Sakura had her katana strapped to her back in its sheath on her back and her kunai in her back pouch, separate from the one on her leg. Her now shoulder-length hair was flowing freely in the wind passing by her as she jumped from tree to tree, catching the attention of a certain blonde-haired ninja. Feeling his eyes on her, Sakura turned to Naruto and smiled. The Hokage-to-be blushed and focused his attention back on his front and Sakura gave a small giggle.

"We're nearing the borderline to the Grass Village. Stay on guard," One of the ANBU yelled. The team of ninja quickened their pace. As they reached the border, the ANBU captain stepped forward to the front gates of the village where two guards were standing. Kakashi found that it was really unnecessary because that their population number was around the 1,000s. Not too many lived in small villages unless they were travelers who needed a place to crash for the night. That plus the fact that there was no Kage to rule the small village, neither did they have a true leader.

"Leaf ninja? What business do you have here?" One of the gatekeepers said. The ANBU captain stepped up, "We are sent by the Hokage. Apparently, there has been some suspicious activity going on in your village, so she sent us here to do a quick check. It shouldn't take us more than two days at the most." The gatekeepers exchanged looks and nodded, "Okay, but first, we need to see your mission reciept." The ANBU captain showed them their ticket and the gatekeeper stamped it before letting them in the village.

Kakashi, annoyed with the whole 'protection' thing, spoke his concerns out loud, "Well, that was a complete waste of time." The ANBU captain nodded, "Tell me about it. I understand the security part but needing to see our stamps seemed a little odd and very unnecessary, we'd better keep our guard up."

"Hai!" The rest of them said, as they split up in random groups to begin their search. Cpt. Yamato and Kakashi went to the center of the village. Kakashi summoned Pakkun and Biscuit to help them out. The ANBU searched the rest of the village while Naruto and Sakura searched the outskirts.

After about 50 minutes of searching, Naruto halted to an immediate stop, making Sakura look back with concern. Right when she was about to ask him what's wrong, she picked up on the chakra and froze too, paling ta the face. "You sense it too?" Naruto asked, finally looking down to Sakura. The pink haired medic nodded and turned the knob on her earpiece to get in contact with the others. "We found something; you guys might want to come and check it out."

"We're almost to your location, Pakkun picked up the scent." Kakashi reported.

"If it's him, then we really need to prepare for combat!" one of the ANBUs said.

When they reached Naruto and Sakura, they all followed Kakashi's dogs towards the location. It turned out that their actual 'enemy' was outside the village, a few jumps, skips, and hops away to be exact. Kakashi warned the gatekeepers that since the enemy was close that they might want to keep their guard up. Naruto, becoming desperate, ran ahead of Pakkun and Biscuit. "Naruto! Watch out!" Pakkun yelled. Too late.

Naruto had tripped over a wire that caused a huge explosion to happen in the woods they were in. Yamato made it over to Naruto and grabbed him and jumped to safety quickly while everyone else jumped out of the way. "Damnit Naruto! You're going to be held up for election for being the Hokage in a month and your failing to notice simple things like tripwires?" Naruto pulled out of Yamato's hold. "That's not important right now! I need to get to that location fast!" He began running in full speed to continue the route to the enemy. Kakashi sighed and dispersed Pakkun and Biscuit before saying, "Well, I guess we'll just follow Naruto then." Everyone nodded and followed quickly behind Naruto to catch up with him. The ANBU continued ahead of Sakura, behind her was Kakashi and Yamato, making them fall into their original formation for the mission, except Naruto was supposed to be in the back with Kakashi and Yamato.

Sakura looked back and fell in step with Kakashi. "Kakashi- sensei. Whoever the enemy is, they must've masked their chakra, and then stopped on purpose. With you, Naruto, and now my heightened senses, we should've been able to sense it before we got to the village. So, whoever it was, they must've found out about us and waited until the right moment to stop masking their chakra so that we could find them purposely." Kakashi nodded, "You're right. Also, there doesn't seem to be any traps other than the ones in our current route. We'd better keep a look out for trouble." The whole squad nodded, except Naruto, and they kept up with their pace.

Naruto soon came to a sudden stop, making everyone else nearly crash into each other. "We're being followed! Everyone take cover!" he yelled, as everyone jumped out of the way of another explosion.

"Ah! So looks like we have some sensor ninjas to deal with while master prepares, eh?" One of the enemies said. There were about 8 of them, outnumbering the ANBU team by 2 members.

"Too bad they didn't notice us leading them in a clear direction until just now." Another ninja said, with a sickening grin on his face.

Naruto glared and lunged into attack first, followed by the ANBU team as well. Kakashi, Yamato, and Sakura stayed back, checking to see where the other 4 went. Kakashi sensed something approaching behind them and grabbed both of their shoulders to dodge an explosion kunai. Sakura grunted as she lifted herself off of a tree branch. She saw Kakashi and Yamato in beside her, then she looked straight ahead to the enemy. She could sense that they were some form of fire style user and formulated a plan. "Kakashi sensei! Cpt. Yamato! By me some time! I've got a plan!" The two jonins nodded at their student and trusted her to take care of the business why they faught of the ninja who was trying to persue after her.

Once she jumped away a few trees to keep her distance, she sensed her area for more chakra, but found none. Sighing, she turned the knob on her ear-piece to talk to her teammates. "Okay, I need an update on the enemies' chakra natures!" Yamato was the first to respond, "Well, ours is a fire style user!"

"I've got a lightening style user over here, Sakura- chan!" Came Naruto's tired reply.

"We've got two earth style users over here!" One of the ANBUs yelled. Sakura smirked, "Perfect, can you all get them to fight over in the field on Cpt. Yamato, your 9 o' clock, Naruto, your 6, and team ANBU, your 2 o'clock! Keep them busy for just a while longer after that and wait for my signal!"

Kakashi raised his eyebrows at the leadership tone of voice she was using, "Roger that!" he replied as Yamato began using his wood style jutsu to hold down their captive.

Naruto nodded and created a group of Shadow Clones to perform the 'Uzumaki Barrage: 5k'. Once his opponent was out cold, he carried his captive his given coordinates.

The ANBU captain created a huge boulder out of the ground below him to knock their two captives out and brought them to their location.

By the time everyone got there, they found Sakura standing in the middle of the field with her arms crossed, carrying a serious look on her face. Naruto jumped when she snapped her fingers and pointed to a spot on the ground, assuming that was where the captives were supposed to go. Once everyone dropped them off, Sakura pulled a chakra enhanced string she apparently had been holding the entire time, and yanked hard, pulling the captives close together tightly, making them groan in pain.

One of the members got bold, "What do you want, you little bi-"

Yamato's eyes widened as he heard the slap echo throughout the woods they were standing in. His shocked expression then turned into a smile of amusement. He leaned over in Kakashi's ear, who's eyes were also widened in shock. "Kakashi- sempai? Do you think we should remind her about her position on this team?" The copy nin smirked and shook his head, "Nah. If who we're dealing with is who we think it is, then she might just forcefully decide to do more than she's supposed to on this mission. Besides, Naruto's face looking like he's about to shit his pants is priceless. I've never seen Sakura do an interrogation before." But that wasn't all. Oh no, Kakashi saw through Sakura's little 'set up'. He noticed the three objects pierced through the Earth before anyone else did. But unlike anyone else, Kakashi knew what those things were.

"Barrier Kunai..." The silver- haired ninja mumbled. "Eh?" said a confused Yamato. Kakashi's smirk grew wider, "Oh, let's just watch the fun begin, shall we?" With that being said, Kakashi pulled the ANBU and a still shocked Naruto back a safe distance. Depending on what tricks she decided to use, things could get messy, if what TenTen said was true.

"Alright, cut the crap! Who the hell are you guys working for?" Sakura yelled bluntly; she wasn't planning on staying out too long. This was her first big mission outside of the village in a LONG time, and she still needed time to get back used to the whole 'field work' job of being a ninja.

"Like hell if you think we're telling you! You didn't even fight us! You're just a weak bitch who probably shouldn't even be a ninja!"

Naruto growled. Kakashi had to hold him back from pouncing on those filthy men right then and there. Sakura gave a sweet smile. "Weak you say? Oh boys," Sakura did a few hand seals and soon enough, a visible barrier formed around the three kunai placed on the ground. Kakashi, was by now, jumping up and down on the tips of his toes, "Oooo! Here it comes!" He all but whispered, earning a few weird looks from his teammates.

One of the captives gave the medic nin a dirty smirk, "Well, why you might not be the fighting type, may I say, you sure as hell have a lewd body. Wanna cut these strings and play, little kitten?" That had done it, Sakura glared one of the deadliest glares anyone who knew her had seen, and slowly balled her fists. The dirty man who gave the comment began to panic, as his legs slowly turned to dirt. "What the fuck are you doing! Let me out you-"

Again, everyone jumped as the man's neck was impaled by the stem of a simple white camellia, killing him in an instant. Naruto could've sworn that he shitted his pants. "She killed him. With the stem of a flower!?" He was going to talk about her new 'techniques' later. "Wait! Stop!" Another captive yelled as he felt his body becoming jelly- like. Sakura stepped inside the barrier and grabbed the men by their throats, showing off her fox- like eyes and two tails swishing behind her. "Don't make me ask you again! Who. Do. You. Work. For!?" The men shitted their pants and begun to cry. Sakura smirked, she hadn't even gotten started yet.

"I- It's that U- UCHIHA! SASUKE UCHIHA!"

Everyone gasped at the news. "So, we were right. He IS the one behind this." Naruto said, keeping a close watch on the woman in front of him. While she could handle two tails, it was still dangerous to let them out. And because the two captives saw them, he knew what would have to happen to them.

But Sakura wasn't finish yet. She their bodies turned back to normal and the men sighed in relief, until Sakura stepped out of the barrier and performed more hand signs. With a more feral smirk that made Kakashi and Yamato stay on their guard more carefully, she said, "Lava Style: Lava Monster Jutstu!"

The men screamed like babies when Sakura's barrier extended, and she blew a huge Lava Dragon into their barrier. "Start talking NOW! Or that dragon will consume you slowly!" Naruto's brows furrowed, "Something's not right. She wouldn't actually kill them, right?" Yamato sighed, "Sakura's no fool when it comes to battle, Naruto. The Hokage has given strict orders to kill anyone who has seen Sakura's new 'development'. However, I couldn't agree with you more. Sakura would kill someone, but not in such gruesome and torturous manner." Kakashi nodded and told Yamato to begin his jutsu. Doubtfully, the wood style user created a loose caged barrier with spikes on the inside around Sakura's location. He felt her chakra control wavering and began to worry.

Sakura, sensing Mariko's agitation with being concealed, was starting to slip in her control with the vixen and she threatened the captives further. "TELL ME NOW, OR YOU'RE DEAD MEAT! WHERE IS HE?!"

"WE DON'T KNOW!" yelled one of the captives. "HE DIDN'T EXPLAIN ANYTHING TO ANY OF US!" the other yelled. "There are more of you?" Kakashi asked, feeling the need to let Sakura rest. "YES! THE REST OF US ARE WAITING AT THE BASE AND AROUND THE PERIMETER TO PREPARE FOR ATTACK! I HEARD HIM MUMBLING SOMETHING ABOUT TAKING SOMETHING FROM SOMEONE! HIS BASE IS A FEW MILES AWAY FROM BEHIND US, BUT I SWEAR, THAT'S ALL I KNOW!"

Sakura grew agitated by the second and screamed loud. The captives were drowned in lava and water, then cooled off and was crushed by what looked like quick sand with teeth of the Kraken. Naruto's eyes were wide in shock, "This CAN'T be Sakura- chan's doing. And what did they mean by 'taking something from someone'?"

He was snatched out of his thoughts when he heard Yamato yell, "Elder Jutsu: 10TH EDICT ON ENLIGHTENMENT!" Naruto, being familiar with the jutsu, snapped his head over to see Yamato place his hand on the necklace Naruto had given Sakura and jump back to his original spot. He watched as the now 5 tails Sakura slowly, yet painfully turned back into her original self. With his logical brain now working, Naruto closed his eyes and reopened them in Six Path Sage Mode. He ran over to a shaking Sakura to begin healing her. After he finished, he picked Sakura up in his arms and cursed under his breath. "Damnit Sakura! Why'd you go and do some dumb crap like that for? Your position is to be a medical ninja, not an interrogator! You nearly got yourself killed!" Yamato and the others agreed, well except for Kakashi.

"Go easy on her Naruto. She hasn't been out in the field in a while. I partially blame Lady Tsunade for that. But, thanks to her rather 'unique' interrogation skills, we know who we're looking for and where to go." Sakura shimmied out of Naruto's arms and stood on her feet. "I'm fine Naruto, and sorry. I guess I got a little 'too' excited and went in to interrogate myself. But this was mainly Mariko's influence, I know that for sure, and I don't trust myself to be around Sasuke right now." Yamato gave her a strange look, "Well, if she were so out of control earlier, then how are you back at full strength right now." Sakura smirked as she walked over to pick up her kunai, "Oh, just a little persuading from me and Kurama." And by persuading, that was meant mostly on her part. She forced Kurama to talk to Mariko if she healed Sakura.

"You'd better be glad Naruto likes you!" Sakura heard Kurama growl and chuckled. "Aw come on! You know I'm growing on you too!" The fox mumbled something incoherent and Sakura giggled some more. "By the way," an ANBU said, walking up to Sakura and Naruto. "Those were some impressive weapons and interrogation skills you displayed back there. I think you'd do great in the Interrogation Department of the ANBU squad." Sakura gave a sweet closed eye smile, "Thanks, but I think I'll just stick with the medical squad for now. Interrogating isn't really mine thing."

"Sure," Kakashi mumbled, earning a death glare from the rosette medic, making him shrink a little. "Well, we'd better get going! If Sasuke's behind all this, then I'd like to know why. And I have some personal business to discuss with him." The squad nodded and headed over in the direction of Sasuke's growing chakra trail.

* * *

**AN: Listen, I know that there's this whole ordeal going on back in the village with Hiashi being the '#1 Dick of the Year' or whatever, but we'll get back to that. Sasuke isn't even going to be here for long guys. I am so sorry if there is any confusion going on in this chapter. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can place them 'nicely' in the review section. And Imma be honest, if you want those questions answered, I'd suggest you PM me. Because I'm 9 times out of 10 ain't even gonna remember to respond to the questions in the review section. (I know, I'm lazy, aren't we all? But, if yall read my profile, it clearly says that I am more of a reader than a writer anyways.)**

**OH! And check out my new one- shot (if you haven't seen it yet) called 'Never In a Million Years'. I only have two reviews from it, and those two people thought it was good! So I want to see everyone else's opinion on the fic.**

**ALSO! HELP WANTED:**

**I came across one of the BEST IDEAS ON TUMBLR! So while I was just chillin to the max and relaxin all cool, I came across an incomplete doujinshi about Shinachiku meeting Boruto. Now as much as I HATE Boruto (sorry boruto fans), the idea sparked my attention, and I began looking around for some fanfics about it. Turns out, I seem to be the only one with the 'weird imaginations' because NO ONE HAS MADE, NOR COMPLETED A BOOK ABOUT IT! What gets me is the fact that it's EVERYWHERE and I haven't found not ONE person to do a book about it. If you have, please kindly let me know in the review section.**

**Now the help part, I am allowing anyone to present their ideas to me for the fic. This fic is currently being viewed to me as a 'failing fic', because I have no idea where to take this story. But I've got a few good ideas on a Shinachiku meets Boruto fan fic.**

**Anyways, I'd like to thank everyone for all the kind support and I LOVE story suggestions. If you have any idea on where I should go with the upcomming Shinachiku/ Boruto fic, this one, or any other fic idea, my PM is open 24 hours a day, though yall know good time well I ain't finna be checking it all them hours, but yall get the idea. Anyways, stay tuned for more action comming up soon! And remeber:**

**Keep Calm and LOVE AKUMARU!**


	13. AN: It Happened Again

**AN: Okay, so, here we are guys. Vixen of the Hidden Leaves...**

**I'm not happy with it.**

**And I think it's because of me reading all these other fan fics and then looking back at what I wrote... nah.**

**I realize now that it's really just... everywhere.**

**Like, okay, Sakura's a jinchuriki now... what else? What plot? I basically just thought this (and I legit had this in mind when I started this fic):**

**"OH MY GAHD! WHAT IF SAKURA HARUNO BECAME A JINCHURIKI!? HOW FLIPPING AWESOME WOULD THAT BE?! I'M GOING TO WRITE A FANFIC ABOUT IT AND BE HAPPY!"**

**And that my fellow readers is where shit hits the fan. You see, the one thing I've learned about writing fanfiction, shout out to swagkura for pointing this out, is that when you write a fan fiction, ALWAYS HAVE THE WHOLE PLOT IN MIND!**

**Like, I literally started writing this because I thought Sakura would make one kick ass jinchuriki.**

**Anyways, onward to my conclusion... Drum roll please!...:**

**This story is getting a rewrite.**

**Now here me out! I kind of got the feel of the story myself. Like, me going back and reading it as a reviewer. I like how the story's going, but I feel like my main problem is rushing in a lot of things at a time and it threw myself off. Like, the whole 'forced marriage thing' going on with Hiashi and then introducing Sasuke coming in... it's a HUGE pile of plot holes that would probably be forgotten later on in the story.**

**But! I want to here your opinions as well! What do you think I should do, because honestly, while I do want to rewrite the fic, I don't have a problem with continuing it, I can promise you, however, that if I continue it, it will just get even crappier. I have no idea where to go with this story from here, and for the ones who have been around to read my past forgotten fic, Forgiveness, you're probably like:**

**"OMFG! STOP ABANDONING FICS AND JUST DO BETTER!"**

**And I couldn't agree with you more, because at this point, if I were a reviewer looking at this, I'd have a feel for it, but think of it as another failed story with potential.**

**So, two options:**

**1\. Continue: I will finish the story, but I can guarantee you that it won't go anywhere. Also, I won't count on this option too much because either I will continue and still do the rewrite, or do the rewrite and forget to continue this one.**

**2\. Re- Write: I will leave the story up here until I get a good 5 chapters down of the re-write before removing it. (PLOT IS DOWN PACK!)**

**Now about the rewrite situation. Yes, I am redoing the whole book. No, I won't change EVERYTHING in the original plot. There are certain characters in the original that I find that they are getting in the way... A LOT! I mean, they are there just to be there at this point because I don't know what to do with them.**

**So yeah, I'm still going to do the rewrite. Thanks to all of those who gave mature criticism and kind remarks on my work. Just keep this in mind, I'm still an amateur writer and do more reading than righting. (Well, my favorite story list explains that a lot) All I ask is that you keep a little patience with me.**

**Also! Guys, you do know that I have another story out right? I've mentioned it before, but if you still haven't noticed it, I have a NaruSaku one- shot out called Never In A Million Years. If you read it all ready, please let me know how I did. If you haven't, then what are you waiting for? I think I did a good job (except the lemon. It was my very first lemon and I feel like I did terrible on it). Ahem... ignoring the lemon, the actual story itself is sweet and fluffy and... cute. I really suggest you go check it out. (It's literally the only book I've came out with that I actually like)**

**Sorry, so, so sorry about the decision guys and I promise not to release any more fics that aren't completely thought through. I'm learning new things every day about writing fanfics and I can't be more thankful for all the kind reviews.**

**Thanks for sticking with this rookie! Keep Calm and LOVE AKUMARU! ❤❤❤? ﾟﾑﾍ****? ﾟﾑﾌ****? ﾟﾑﾌ****? ﾟﾙﾌ****?**


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